


Duality

by NorthernGhost



Series: Living Systems [1]
Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-04-08 17:23:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 41
Words: 142,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14110326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernGhost/pseuds/NorthernGhost
Summary: When Elisabet Sobeck begins to experience strange visions and lucid dream-like episodes, she attributes them as simply products of stress and the looming end of life as she knows it due to the Faro Plague, however she quickly begins to discover that there may be more to them than simply nightmares and daydreams.





	1. Work Mornings

**Author's Note:**

> First time posting any sort of fic online, so here goes! Just an idea that occurred to me after playing through the game for the first time this past year. I tried to catch all of the typos and other errors bound to happen when writing in the middle of the night, but some may have slipped through the cracks.

The smell of grass pollen and blooming flowers hung thick in the air, outweighing the sickly sweet smell of rotten wood nearby. The first thing that hit her lungs was the crisp, slightly chilled edge of the undoubtedly spring air, the slight bite at the front reminding that winter had only recently given way, but soon after the initial, crisp feeling, a subtle warmth settled over her skin, reminding that spring was far enough along that the true dredges of winter had been cast aside. Despite all these amazing sensations, all she could see was blackness. With a heavy inhale, one last scent of the flowers, grass, and general woodland scents, she opened her eyes, only to be confronted with the gunmetal grey that had consumed her life for the past several months.  


For a moment, the world seemed to be nothing but an endless expanse of dark grey, but a moment later harsh light began to brighten the space. The subtle hum of the lights above coming to life filled her ears as she felt a slight sinking sensation in her stomach. Her senses desperately clung to the visceral feeling of the outdoors from moments ago, but it seemed to slip away like sand through spread fingers. Finally, all she was left with was the sterile smell of the room, combined with the somewhat stuffy feeling of a cotton comforter and thin sheets. With a sigh, she closed her eyes, once again, squeezing them tightly until she began to see the odd, colorful formations that usually accompanied her actions, before opening them once again. Small, bright spots faded in and out of focus against the blank, gray surface above her. Before they had fully dissipated, however, an electronic chime rang through the room.  
“Good morning, the current time is oh-six-forty-five. Your first appointment is at oh-seven-hundred. This is your wake-up reminder.”  
The overly-processed, synthetic voice disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving the room in near-silence, once again. After another minute or two of complete stillness, another voice filled the room, this one gentler and much more natural sounding.  


“Dr. Sobeck?”  


With a sigh, she gently closed her eyes, desperately wishing she had only a minute or two more, but, evidently, duty called.  


“I’m awake.”  


“I did not doubt that,” the voice continued, gentle and reassuring. “May I speak out of protocol?”  


“I suppose it is before the ‘work day,’ go ahead.”  


“What did you dream about?”  


With a quiet laugh, followed by a heavy sigh, she rubbed her eyes with both hands.  


“Nothing special.”  


“It appears to have affected you greatly.”  


“Why do you say that?”  


“You are reluctant to get out of bed.”  


“I’m a grown woman; I don’t need a ‘mother’ to tell me that I should be getting up,” she said, smirking.  


“I apologize, I did not—”  


“Sarcasm.”  


“I… understand.”  


With a sigh, she opened her eyes fully, sitting up in her bed, groaning as she did, and turned to her side. As her feet slid from under the covers and hung toward the floor, she almost found herself expecting the feel of a hard, wood surface, rather than the cold, steel of the floor that greeted her. A shiver ran up her spine and she shook slightly, lifting one foot on top of the other and rubbing them together slightly.  


“May I speak outside of protocol, again?”  


“Yeah… yes, you may.”  


“Why do you insist on being awake before so many of your team?”  


She smirked, laughing softly under her breath.  


“Guess it’s just in my nature. Never took a sick day in my life.”  


“Records indicate—”  


“Hyperbole.”  


“Noted.”  


With a sigh, she pushed herself to her feet, groaning as she stretched her arms toward the ceiling. Her back and shoulders protested against the motion, but she ignored the soreness, simply passing it off as a product of too many hours hunched over a desk. She would consider taking better care of herself, physically, but that just didn’t seem all that necessary, at this point.  


With a heavy sigh, she let her arms fall to her sides before moving across the sparsely-filled room and grabbing a set of clothes from the top of a crate left open beside a desk already covered in various types of clutter. She quickly swapped her sleeping clothes for her typical, daily outfit before running her fingers through her hair, grimacing slightly at the greasy feeling she found. Forcing it out of mind, she let it fall back around her neck before wiping her hands on her shirt and moving toward the door. She grabbed her shoes from just beside it, nearly losing her balance as she hopped on one foot while trying to put each one on before standing up straight and approaching the lock in the center of her door.  


She went to reach toward it before pausing, swearing under her breath, and turning to look around the room. After a few moments of scanning the space, she moved around the bed and reached for a small, triangular piece of metal on the nightstand beside it. As soon as she placed the device against her right ear, a purple web of lines and numbers appeared around her. A moment later, however, they seemed to clear away, revealing a list seemingly suspended in air before her.  


“It never gets shorter,” she sighed, tapping the side of the device and clearing the view of the electronic signals before her.  


Finally, she turned toward the door, this time seeing the projection of the locking mechanism suspended in air just over it, a single red section facing up toward the ceiling. As she began to reach for it, the image of the metal door and the digital lock before her was suddenly replaced by a wooden door and a simple handle. Her breath caught in her throat and she stopped immediately, hand outstretched, before the next blink of her eyes revealed the metal door, once again.  


“Dr. Sobeck, is everything all right?”  
She continued to stare at the door for a few moments before clearing her throat and blinking rapidly.  


“Yeah, fine.”  


“Your body language would indicate other—”  


“I said I’m fine.”  


The voice fell silent as she took a deep breath and finally closed the last several inches between her hand and the lock, turning it until an electronic chime accompanied the projection turning from red to green. As soon as the door slid open, she was confronted with a hallway that looked nearly identical to the room she was standing in, albeit longer and without any furniture. Gunmetal grey was everywhere, clearly lit and exposed by the harsh lighting from overhead. Her footsteps seemed to echo endlessly as she stepped out of the room and turned right, instinctively following the same path she had been tracing for weeks, now.  


Her long, silent walk ended at a door roughly a hundred feet down and to her left, where she turned and unlocked it with the same mechanism as the one in her quarters. As the door slid open, the thick, slightly burnt scent of coffee immediately caught her attention and she stepped inside, glancing around curiously. Usually she was the first person awake out of her entire team, and the smell was too strong to simply be left over from last night. A cursory glance around the room revealed no one else, but just before she could dismiss the idea, her eyes fell on something that had she had missed on the first pass.  


A form was slumped over one of the few small tables in the middle of the room, a single coffee cup sitting next to the figure’s left hand. It didn’t take much to guess who the figure was, as the light-blue headscarf immediately gave it away. She quietly stepped into the room, trying not to cause too much of a disturbance, but almost immediately the doors slid shut behind her, causing her to wince at the sound. The figure at the table jumped slightly, quickly lifting their head and looking around until their gaze fell on the new arrival. Half-closed eyes widened slightly as she wiped at her face with one of her hands, blinking rapidly.  


“Sorry to wake you.”  


“It’s…” she began, the sentence interrupted by a yawn before she could finish it, “it’s fine. What time is it?”  


“Almost oh-seven-hundred.”  


The woman at the table mumbled something under her breath before shaking her head and glancing over at the mug of coffee on the table.  


“Were you up all night?”  


“I suppose so.”  


“You need to sleep at some point; it’s not good for your health.”  


The woman at the table laughed softly, smirking.  


“You’re one to talk, Elisabet.”  


She grinned in response, shrugging.  


“I guess you got me there.”  


The two women laughed as Elisabet moved farther into the room, heading toward the coffee machine. In normal society, they had machines that could make you any kind of drink you wanted at the push of a button, but such fancy comforts hadn’t quite made it into this facility. Instead, a near-ancient design of a coffee maker sat on the countertop, the pot in its bottom half still almost entirely full.  


“Since when do you drink coffee, Samina?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder.  


“Since we ran out of tea.”  


Elisabet frowned slightly before turning back to the counter and opening one of the cabinets above it. She rifled through the contents for a moment or two before pulling a package out and holding it up toward the other woman.  


“Am I crazy or is this tea?”  


Samina wrinkled her nose at the sight of the package, shaking her head.  


“That is glorified hot water.”  


Elisabet laughed before placing the package back in the cabinet and closing the door. She grabbed a coffee mug from another one down by her knees and reached for the coffee pot. As her fingers wrapped around the handle, it was suddenly replaced with a long stretch of smooth wood, the tip adorned with a wicked piece of sharp metal; colorful red and blue streamers hung from it, some wrapping around the wooden shaft, itself. Elisabet jumped in surprise, the sound of shattering glass bringing the counter and coffee maker back into view. She quickly glanced down to see the coffee pot broken on the floor, the hot, brown liquid quickly spreading in every direction.  


“Shit,” she muttered, placing the empty coffee mug in her hand on the counter and quickly moving to grab a towel of some kind.  


“Are you okay?” Samina called, the sound of her chair scraping across the floor as she rose to her feet filling the relatively small room.  


“Yeah, just… clumsy in the morning, I guess,” she replied, hoping that her tone didn’t reflect the panicked, tight feeling in her chest.  


“Let me help you with that,” the other woman offered, moving across the room.  


“Uh… yeah, thanks,” she replied, nodding.  


Samina found a small dustpan and quickly swept up the broken glass as Elisabet worked at the coffee with a roll of paper towels. Once she was satisfied that it was cleaned up to the best of her ability, she sighed, resting back on her heels and running the back of her hand across her forehead.  


“Well, I guess I don’t need the coffee to feel awake, anymore,” she quipped, attempting a smirk as she glanced over at Samina.  


The concerned look on the other woman’s features only made her feel worse as she swallowed the lump in her throat and began to rise to her feet, groaning slightly as she did.  


“Did you actually get any sleep last night?”  


Elisabet jumped, once again, this time at the sound of the other woman’s voice.  


“Yes… a-a couple of hours, at least,” she said.  


“Lis…”  


“I did, honestly.”  


Samina didn’t look entirely convinced, but dropped the line of questioning.  


“Guess I’ll have to just make some glorified hot water, instead,” she said. “Damn, I hope I didn’t just break our one and only coffee machine…”  


She quickly turned toward the counter, and away from Samina, trying to keep her hands busy as she fought to keep her facial expression under control. The feeling of being outside had been easy enough to pass off as a dream, memories of a time long past, but the incidents with the door and now the coffee pot weren’t so easy to explain. What even had she been holding a moment ago, a spear of some sort?  


“ _But why was the tip metal? That didn’t look like anything I would have made as a kid, or… something._ ”  


With a heavy sigh, she finished making her tea, pouring the hot water from the machine and letting the bag sit in it. Her eyes closed for a moment as she inhaled through her nose, only to immediately smell something distinctly earthy and not at all like anything she could find in the facility. A cool chill rolled across the skin of her arms and face and she shivered, opening her eyes only to see the wall above the counter in front of her. The sensation of the breeze on her skin lingered, however, causing a shiver to run up her spine.  


She forced herself to grip her mug tightly before turning around and moving toward the table where Samina had taken a seat, once again. As soon as she fell into the chair, she released the mug, the warm sensation beginning to move from comforting to burning. The look on the other woman’s face told her she wanted to ask more questions, but she remained silent. Elisabet found herself grateful that she was restraining herself; she wasn’t sure she had any answers to give, and didn’t want to keep dodging and shrugging.  


“So, what was so important that kept you up all night?” she asked, seizing the moment to turn the conversation somewhere else.  


“Other than creating the future of the planet?” Samina replied, a bit of a mischievous spark appearing in her eyes. “Well, specifically, I was making sure the translations of some specific texts were actually implemented correctly.”  


“Issue with the code?”  


“Somewhat,” she replied, shrugging. “Some trying to just make sure everything was actually there.”  


“I see…”  


Silence fell over them for a few moments before Samina finally broke it.  


“How is GAIA doing?”  


“She seems to be doing great,” Elisabet replied, nodding slowly. “We’re still running test after test just to make sure everything acts like it should.”  


Whatever response Samina was about to give was stifled by a deep yawn, one of her hands reaching up to cover her open mouth as she nodded. Elisabet grinned slightly as she blew at her tea, still not trusting that it had cooled enough to drink safely.  


“You need some rest.”  


“Well, I certainly do, now that there is no coffee.”  


Elisabet shot her a dirty look as the other woman laughed.  


“We’ll figure something out to make more,” she continued. “Don’t look so upset.”  


“Well, whatever it ends up being, just keep it out of my clumsy hands, apparently.”  


Samina’s lips pulled into a thin line as she regarded the other woman with a look that told her she wanted to say more, once again, but still refrained from actually addressing her thoughts.  


“I’ll take this back with me,” she said, grabbing her mug. “I’ll check in with you after, see how everything’s going.”  


“You don’t need to—”  


“You’ll probably be hungry, by then,” she interrupted. “I’ll bring us some lunch.”  


Elisabet’s mouth hung open for a moment or two longer before she finally nodded.  


“Deal.”


	2. Workplace Accidents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so psyched to see how many people actually liked my first chapter, let alone read it! I just hope that the rest of the story will live up to anyone's/everyone's expectations after the initial start. I've written pretty far ahead, so I'm hoping to keep up posting a new chapter a week, unless I get bored and post twice. Anyway, I'm gonna stop talking now and get on with it.

The rest of the morning saw no further intrusions of the incredibly visceral hallucinations Elisabet had experienced, allowing her to go about her routine uninterrupted by any more panic attacks. Samina had finally shown up around noon with some food, looking much better than she had when they had spoken earlier. They spoke both idly about their coworkers and projects, and somewhat seriously about concerns or questions that had arisen about their respective areas, as of late. After an hour or so of conversation, in which Elisabet only had to silence GAIA from mentioning the incidents from that morning once, Samina departed, heading back to her office to resume her own work.  
“Elisabet, may I speak out of protocol?”  


She sighed, rubbing her temples with her fingers.  


“I suppose.”  


“Query: why do you seem so adamant to not let Samina know about whatever has been distressing you this morning?”  


“Because,” she started, her tone immediately heated and charged, but she forced herself to stop and take a breath, starting over in a much calmer manner, “because I don’t have a good answer, myself.”  


“Query: would talking about it with someone help you understand it?”  


“I… don’t know.”  


“Query—”  


“You certainly have a lot of questions,” Elisabet quipped, laughing quietly.  


“I was built to learn and gain knowledge of the world through being inquisitive.”  


“I know, I know, it… what was your question?”  


“Query: have the times you’ve acted strangely today been related to your dream?”  


Elisabet let out a long, slow breath through her nose as she leaned against the edge of the desk, staring blankly into space.  


“Maybe.”  


“ _But I don’t remember anything I saw from… before all this._ ”

 

The majority of the day passed without another incidence, as well, allowing her to focus intently on her work. They did have a hell of a deadline to meet, after all.  


Later in the evening, as she was focused intently on something on her desk, she slowly became aware of a chill settling in over her. She shivered slightly and absentmindedly rubbed at her arms, only vaguely noting the feeling of goosebumps under her fingers. Perhaps it was a little cold in the room; it wasn’t like she ever really considered it exceptionally warm in the facility, at any point. Just then, she felt the sensation of something blowing across her arm, and she immediately lifted her head to look around.  


The temperature of the room may have been one thing, but there most certainly shouldn’t have been a breeze like that.  


She quickly spun around, searching for signs of someone that she had simply missed entering and causing the breeze, but she was as alone as she had been for most of the day. Images of one of the Faro death-bots suddenly tearing through the metal walls and rushing at her popped into her mind’s eye for a moment, but she quickly dismissed them. As she began to turn back toward her desk, she froze, staring at something vaguely in the middle-distance.  
The image that she had seen pass before her eyes had begun gnawing at the back of her mind. It hadn’t been one of the machines she had seen countless times on the news, the menacing red lights and the armor plating that skittered far too quickly and well for their own good, but instead something smaller, on two legs, with one large eye that had suddenly flashed from yellow to red.  


The same cool breeze seemed to drift across her, but this time it was accompanied by a feeling of warmth that sunk into her skin, almost as if she were standing under the late-day sun. She began to rub at her arms, almost as if trying to wipe the feeling away, before she quickly stepped away from her desk, pacing about the room. Her heart was hammering in her chest, her breathing coming in quick, shallow gasps. She blinked, and suddenly the image of the machine she had seen moments ago was before her, but now it was quite clearly destroyed, lying on its side on the ground, scattered pieces of metal around it. The next second, she was back at the facility, one hand gripping the edge of the desk firmly to keep her on her feet.  


A distinctly electronic whirring came from behind her and she spun around, only to see the image of another one of the two-legged machines coming toward her, its large eye glowing red. More than just the image of the machine, she took in the environment around it, as well. Tall grass, green trees, a blue sky…  


One blink later, she was back in the world of steel and bright lights of the facility.  


Another blink, the machine was skewered on the end of a firm, wooden weapon, seemingly held in her hands.  


Blink. Her workstation at the facility.  


Blink. Staring down at the second destroyed machine.  


Blink. The floor of the facility rising fast to meet her.  


Blink. Her hands deftly swinging the wooden spear-like weapon behind her back.  


Blink. The metal floor just before she slammed into it.

 

At first, only vague sounds came back to her, voices echoing in a large space, but she couldn’t make out any distinct words. By the tones of the voices, she could only assume that whatever they were saying was urgent. Finally, the haze seemed to lift enough that they became clear; it was two women seemingly arguing.  


“She is dying!”  


“ _Okay, maybe not quite that dramatic,_ ” she thought.  


Her eyes opened somewhat, revealing the world around her to be bathed in a warm, orange glow. Everything still seemed to be out of focus, so she could only make out the vague outline of the two women speaking, as well as a third somewhere in front of her. Despite everything still being blurry, she could sense that she was moving, although she herself was not actually causing it. The walls and ceiling were slowly crawling by as she tried to turn her head to look around, but her body didn’t seem to want to respond. A dull throbbing started in her head and she let out a quiet moan, the pain beginning to spread to the rest of her body.  


“To take her there is blasphemy!”  


“She should be near her mother!”  


The confusion only seemed to add to the aching that had begun to grow stronger. For a second, her vision cleared enough to make out the figures above her. She hadn’t been able to pinpoint who the voices belonged to, but now she was certain that was because she had never seen either of the women before.  


“ _Who the hell are they? Where am I?_ ”  


Despite her best efforts, her voice didn’t respond, just like the rest of her.  


A moment later, a stabbing pain shot down her neck, starting in her left temple and her eyes slid closed, a whimper building in her throat. The voices faded away, only to return a second or two later. As they began to grow louder, she recognized that some of them were distinctly lower than before, men’s voices.  


Finally, her eyes fluttered open, and she found herself staring at a blurry image of the world, once again, but this time the soft orange glow had been replaced by white, electric lights overhead. A silhouette of a person appeared over her and she blinked slowly, the blurriness partially clearing away. She could make out short-cropped hair as a smirk pulled at the figure’s lips.  


“There she is, comin’ back ‘round. Hey, Lizzy, you back?”  


She blinked several more times until the image of the man over her came into focus. Her throat felt like she had swallowed a mouthful of gravel as she tried to speak, but only managed a croak. The man didn’t say anything, but glanced off to his side, waving someone else over. A moment later, another man appeared on the other side of her, a worried expression on his face. His hand raised over her, holding something in it, before a bright light shone in her eyes and she groaned, closing them and turning her head away.  


“Elisabet, please stay still,” he said, a thick accent lacing his voice.  


“You hit your head pretty good back there,” the other man said. “You were damn near unresponsive when I found you. Charlie here wants to make sure you don’t have a concussion or nothin’.”  


Her eyes slid open as her head remained turned to the side, revealing the small nightstand from her quarters. She blinked several more times to try to remove the bright spots that continued to bloom in the aftermath of the bright light before turning to look up at the two men, once again. The bright light appeared in her eye, yet again, but she tried to force herself not to cringe and look away once more. A moment later, it shifted to the other eye before disappearing.  


“Reacting as normal,” he confirmed.  


“No concussion? Damn, you’re one tough gal, you know that?”  


She groaned softly as her hands raised to wipe over her face.  


“If you say so, Travis.”  


The first man smirked as they both leaned back from hovering over her. She began to push herself into a sitting position, a strong throbbing sensation appearing in her head as she pressed one palm to her right temple.  


“What happened?” the second man asked, concern lacing his voice.  


“I-I don’t know,” she finally managed, her voice back under her control. “You said you found me on the floor?”  


“Yeah, passed out and limp as a ragdoll,” the first man, Travis, said. “By the nasty bruise on the side of your face, there, I’m gonna guess you whacked your head pretty hard.”  


Elisabet carefully brought her other hand up to her head, feeling the left side of her face and quickly discovering a sensitive patch just around her left temple, causing her to wince at the touch.  


“Did you skip meals again?” the second man asked.  


“No, no… Samina and I ate lunch at around noon,” she said, shaking her head slowly.  


“Did you sleep last night?”  


“Yes,” she sighed, sounding slightly exasperated.  


“Elisabet, I’m only trying—”  


“I know,” she cut in, shaking her head slightly as she let her hands fall into her lap, “but, I’m fine. I… don’t know what happened, must have tripped or something.”  


The two men exchanged glances before turning back to her.  


“Maybe you should try to take it easy for the rest of the day,” the second man said.  


“Charles, I can’t afford that,” she sighed, turning to her side and preparing to stand up. “We can’t afford that.”  


His lips pulled into a thin line for a moment before he sighed, shaking his head.  


“Then maybe at least make sure someone is with you, just in case.”  


“I’m. Fine.”  


At the intensity of her voice, he backed off, standing up straight as she pushed herself to a standing position. She was unsteady on her feet for a moment, but the vertigo quickly passed. The dull aches she had experienced moments ago in the strange, orange hallway seemed to linger for a moment or two as she stretched, but they slowly began to dissipate, only leaving the throbbing one in her head.  


“So, did you drag me here all by yourself?” she asked, turning back to Travis.  


“Naw, Charlie helped. Came running when I called ‘man down.’”  


She glanced over at him as he shuffled slightly, avoiding her gaze.  


“Well, thank you, then,” she said. “I think I’m going to grab some food first, and then head back to work, if you don’t mind.”  


They both nodded and headed out the door, each offering one last wave and goodbye to her before disappearing into the hallway beyond. As they left, she turned back to her nightstand, grabbing the device they had clearly taken off her when they brought her into her quarters. Putting it back on her ear, the web of purple lines appeared around her, although this time a message popped up in the center of her vision.  


“Please speak to me when you are better.”  


It wasn’t addressed from anyone in particular, but she knew exactly who it was the moment she read it. A small smile pulled at the corner of her lips as she dismissed the message and the digital lines disappeared from view. With a groan, she made her way to the door and stepped out into the hallway. As soon as she did, however, the image before her was replaced with one similar to what she had seen just before waking up, the warm, orange glow covering everything around her. This time, however, her vision was not so blurry or restricted, allowing her to realize that it looked almost exactly the actual hallway she had stepped into a moment ago, although this one seemed almost long-abandoned. Stalactites and stalagmites appeared along some of the walls, while one entire section of the hallway ahead of her was blocked off by them.  


As she blinked in surprise, staggering back a step or two, the image disappeared, replaced with the brightly-lit hallway she had seen that morning. She glanced around quickly, almost as if looking for some sign of it still around her, but everything was the same, sterile environment she had been staring at for months. A moment later, she sighed, gingerly touching the bruised spot on her left temple.  


“Knocked a few screws loose, did ya, Lis?”


	3. A Glimpse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's technically Monday here... by an hour. Thanks again to everyone who's read the first two chapters, gave kudos, and commented, it's seriously still wicked cool to me! There's been hints of what's to come, but now we've come to the first good look at what's going on. Come along.

Once she had gotten back to work, following a short meal break, everything had gone normally, no more visions of strange robots or odd, earthen hallways. News of her fall had apparently spread relatively quickly, as Samina had contacted her less than an hour after she had returned to work. After spending several long minutes convincing her she was fine, the other woman had dropped the line of questioning, their messages switching back to more work-related questions and demands.  


Finally, at around midnight, she pushed back from her desk, rubbing her eyes with her hands, a yawn forcing its way out of her. She blinked quickly, feeling the fatigue in the slight burning sensation behind her eyes, telling her that she had been staring at screens for far too long.  


“Elisabet, you should rest.”  


She sighed, shaking her head.  


“I already told you, I’m a grown woman who doesn’t need a mother right now.”  


“I understand,” GAIA said. “I was merely suggesting due to your accident earlier. More rest than your normal amount may be beneficial tonight.”  


Elisabet sighed, running her hands through her hair as another yawn overcame her.  


“Fine, you win this one,” she muttered. “I’ll be back in the morning.”  


“As always, Dr. Sobeck.”  


She smiled slightly, nodding before shutting down the screens she had been using and exiting the room. She finally made her way back to her quarters, changing into her loose-fitting sleeping clothes before falling onto the bed. The dull throbbing in her temples continued for a moment or two as she debated whether it was worth it to take some light pain meds, but she found fatigue quickly descending over her, pulling her eyelids closed. She barely had time to make sure the lights were off before she fully slipped into unconsciousness.  


Almost immediately, she felt a cold chill creeping over her skin and she shifted slightly, reaching for the comforter and sheets to pull over herself. After a second or two of groping for them with her eyes closed, her hand came into contact with something soft, but it most definitely didn’t have the feel of the scratchy, cotton comforter she was used to. She froze for a moment before running her fingers over it, once again. The surface was soft and smooth to the touch, although she could clearly feel the individual strands of whatever made up its surface. The thought occurred to her that it was almost like the sensation she remembered from petting an animal.  


That thought quickly caused her to open her eyes, sitting up and looking down at her hand to her right. Her heart rate had instantly skyrocketed, leaving her panting slightly as her chest heaved. It took a moment or two for her eyes to adjust to the relative darkness and see her hand resting on top of what appeared to be a patch of animal fur. She jumped slightly and moved away from it, only to find that her legs were tangled in something.  


A few seconds of frantic flailing later, she managed to extract herself from the hold of whatever had ensnared her, only to find that it had only been more of the fur she had felt a moment ago. After a few more moments and it hadn’t moved, she carefully reached forward and grabbed it, pulling on the dark, soft layer next to her.  


“It’s a blanket,” she thought, lifting it up to see what looked like a tanned leather underside.  


The cold chill that had woken her passed over her again as she became aware of a rushing sound nearby. She shivered slightly and glanced around only to freeze in place. The room was most definitely not the one she had fallen asleep in, nor was it one that she could recall ever seeing before. The walls appeared to be made out of wood that had been banded together, almost like a more primitive log cabin. The interior of the room was mostly an empty, wide-open space with a few sparse furnishings here and there. A table and two chairs sat across the room from her, beside a small fireplace made of stones. There were no windows anywhere, but the small gaps between the logs and sticks of the walls let small pinpricks of reddish-orange light through.  


The rushing sound came again, along with the chill, and she realized that it was the wind howling outside, small gusts seeping into the room and blowing across her. She shivered slightly, releasing the fur blanket to rub at her arms. At that moment, she glanced down and jumped again, but this time letting out an audible sound when she did. The clothes she was wearing were most definitely not her own, nor were they ones like anything she had ever owned, let alone seen.  


A brown, leather tunic covered her torso, extending into an open bottom, cut almost like a skirt opening. Rather tight-fitting leather leggings covered her legs, leading to what looked almost like moccasins, although they stretched and moved more akin to socks than shoes. Something shifted around her neck and she looked down to see several fabric strands woven into a necklace, a single one in a brilliant blue color standing out to her the most. Just past it hung another necklace, this one supported by a more hearty cord, leading to some kind of carved bone design. The next thing she noticed almost immediately were the strands of fire-red hair that fell over her shoulders. It was much longer than she remembered, while also sporting a few small braids.  


She quickly raised her hands to feel it, pulling on the strands of hair to find that they felt just like they should if it were her own. Her fingers slowly moved farther up until she felt the rather wild mane that seemed to have replaced her own somewhat short and neat haircut. She found even more braids in the back, as well as some small, hard objects that felt smooth to the touch.  


“What…?” she muttered under her breath, her heart rate showing no signs of slowing any time soon.  


She quickly scrambled to her feet, turning in place as she staggered several steps away, taking in the entire room, fully aware of the sensation of the various braids in her hair flinging around her. The chill of the cool air from outside continued to send shivers down her spine as she ran her hands over her exposed arms, feeling the goosebumps that coated them.  


“This has to be a dream,” she muttered, still reeling from the sensations around her, but immediately freezing after speaking.  


The voice that had come from her mouth when she spoke was definitely hers, but something seemed different about it.  


She sounded…  


She whirled around, quickly scanning the space in a panicked frenzy before her eyes fell on something propped up against the wall beside the fireplace. It was a small, round piece of glass that seemed to have been shined to an incredible point, leaving the side facing her rather reflective; she could just make out the edge of red hair in the corner of it. She quickly moved across the room, crouching down to grab the glass from the floor, but hesitating a moment as she stared at the reflection of her feet and legs in it. Swallowing a hard lump that had formed in her throat, she slowly tilted it up toward her face.  


The image that appeared in it as she did nearly caused her heart to stop as she absentmindedly released the glass and fell onto her backside, the hard wood floor sending a brief flash of pain shooting up her tailbone. Her breaths were coming in fast, ragged gasps as she stared at the reflective object, now facing the ceiling. After a moment or two, she shook her head.  


“No, no, that can’t be right,” she said, quickly scrabbling forward and grabbing the primitive mirror once again.  


This time, she quickly turned it to face her and her breath caught in her throat once more. The image of her seemingly teenage self staring back at her also froze as she did, her hazel eyes wide and her face pale. As she let out the breath she had been holding, the younger reflection did, too. She slowly reached one hand up to her face, watching the reflection mimic her actions. As her fingers touched her cheek, she could immediately feel the skin beneath them, smoother, less creased by smile and laugh-lines. Her fingers slowly moved from her face to her hair, pulling a strand in front of her. She could see it before her eyes, and in the reflection, now, one small braid of many in a wild mane of red hair that flowed behind her. Several small beads and what appeared to be some kind of fabric ties held some of the braids in place, most of them some sort of blue color.  


“No… no way,” she said, releasing the strand of hair and letting the mirror fall back onto the floor. “No fucking way.”  


Even as she spoke, the sound of her voice, younger and less touched by the anger and fatigue that seemed to have driven her life for the past year, told her that the image she had seen wasn’t lying. It was actually a real reflection.  


“It’s all a-a dream, it’s all a dream,” she stammered, shaking her head, trying to ignore the sensation of the braids whipping around her. “I passed out and this is just…”  


She trailed off, squeezing her eyes shut as she reached across herself and dug her nails into the opposite arm. The pain that suddenly shot from where she had practically clawed herself forced a scream of pain from her lips, which quickly twisted into a curse as her eyes flew open and she looked down at her arm. Small indents where her nails had been a moment ago had appeared in her skin, one of them even beginning to turn slightly red as small beads of blood leaked from it.  


“Knocked a few screws loose… understatement of… my goddamn life,” she said, her breath still coming in heaving gasps.  


The feeling of the breeze across her skin prompted her to lift her head toward the wall across from her, once again. Her eyes quickly fell on something she had missed before in her panicked examination of the room: a door. It was nearly identical to the one she had seen in a brief flash earlier that day, just as she had gone to leave her quarters that morning. Another gust of wind blew through the wooden building, this time strong enough to rattle the door slightly as a thought suddenly occurred to her.  


There was no way this building had air scrubbers or any other kind of environmental life support; the air she was breathing and the wind she was feeling were actually from outside. She wasn’t wearing a protective suit, or any sort of rebreather, yet she could breathe the air without choking on it.  


A sudden urge overtook her, temporarily pushing aside the panic of just what had happened to her that still kept her heart at an elevated rate as she rushed toward the door, her footfalls causing the wooden floor to creak and groan with each step. When she reached the opening, she hardly slowed down, ramming her shoulder into the surface as she pushed on the latch to unlock it. The door swung open and she staggered outside, nearly falling down the set of stairs that immediately greeted her, but she caught herself at the last second, nimbly hopping down them before coming to a stop just at the bottom.  


Her eyes were wide as she found herself blinking repeatedly, almost as if she were expecting the next one to erase the scene before her, but still, it remained. She was standing in the middle of a fenced-in clearing, a light dusting of snow still adorning the ground, although the signs of grass poking through it told her that it was either the end of fall or beginning of spring. The open ground was impressive enough, but what immediately caught her attention and caused her breath to catch in her throat, once again, was the sight of the sunrise before her.  


The sky was lit a brilliant reddish hue as the warm, orange orb rose just barely above the horizon directly over the small path between two walls of rock before her. Faint, wispy clouds sat about the sky overhead, reflecting the golden hues of the morning sun. Somewhere in the distance, she could faintly hear the sound of birds chirping and what could have been geese.  


Another gust of the chilly breeze snapped her out of her reverie as she slowly closed her eyes and leaned her head back, lifting her arms partially out to either side as she inhaled deeply through her nose, taking in the scents of the snow, the grass, the trees, the wooden structure behind her, and the unidentifiable scent that simply spoke “morning” to her. A short laugh forced its way out of her chest as her eyes opened, still revealing the clearing and sunrise to her. Another laugh followed soon after, before turning into actual, continuous laughter, her chest heaving with each one. A few seconds later, she collapsed onto her knees, leaning forward and placing her hands in the snow, not caring how cold it was as she curled them into fists, feeling the grass beneath the white, powdery surface layer.  


Wet droplets began to land on the snow beneath her and it took her a moment or two to realize that they were actually tears, rolling off her cheeks. The laughter had now turned into something halfway to being sobs. Her fingers curled around the snow once again before she lifted them in front of her, staring at the cold, frozen lumps held in the palms of her hands. She could see the tips of her fingers had already begun to turn red, but she ignored it.  


“I-I can’t be the only one here,” she said, letting the snow fall in a small pile on the ground before her as she quickly leapt to her feet. “This can’t be some kind of… beautiful purgatory, or… whatever.”  


As she glanced around the open clearing, a shiver wracked her body and she rubbed her exposed arms, although the touch of her cold hands only sent another shiver through her.  


“And I really hope there’s some warmer clothes around here, somewhere.”  


She turned and headed back into the building, leaving the door cracked behind her slightly to allow some more light into the room. There was definitely no electricity here, and she had no idea how else she would be able to see in the dark space, but luckily her eyes adjusted and she was able to make out everything in slightly more detail than she had earlier.  


A cold gust of wind blew in from the open door behind her and she shivered, absentmindedly rubbing her hands up and down her exposed arms. As she passed over the spot on her left arm where she had dug her nails into it earlier, she smeared some of the blood along it. Frowning slightly, she quickly walked across the room and wiped it on the edge of the table. Just before she went to turn away, she noticed something sitting in the middle of it and pulled a double take. A similar triangular metal device to the one she had worn in the facility was sitting in the middle of the wooden surface, a faint blue light coming from the logo in the center.  


“Is that… actually mine?” she wondered aloud, reaching toward it.  


She stared at the device in her fingers for a moment or two before tentatively raising it toward her ear. Almost as soon as the device touched her, it came to life, a web of purple lines appearing around her. However, almost immediately a piercing sound rang in her ear and she let out a cry of pain, placing one hand against the side of her head as she tried to claw the device off, but darkness had already begun to encroach on the edges of her vision. A moment later, she felt her balance tip to the side and her legs gave out. The world spun before her as she felt the ground rising up to meet her, once again.


	4. Like Mom Used to Make

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did I start uploading on Mondays? I guess a lot of people post later in the week, so someone has to be different. Anyway, for every exciting event and episode, there has to be some kind of aftermath. Enjoy the confusion and suspense.

Elisabet’s eyes snapped open as she jumped, recoiling from an impact that she expected, but no actual pain seemed to follow. Her eyes darted back and forth wildly for a moment or two before slowing down enough for her to actually take in the world around her. She was staring at an expanse of grey, a hot white light coming from above. The ground felt cold underneath her as a dull aching began to appear in her right side.  


She lifted her head slightly and attempted to tilt it, leveling the image of the world before her. As she did, she quickly realized where she was: back in one of the hallways of the facility. Almost immediately, she felt tears welling at the corners of her eyes as she slammed her fist down on the hard floor, a sound like a combination of a curse, whimper, and shriek escaping her throat.  


She desperately clung to the sensation of the cool air and the grass and snow, but they seemed to be quickly slipping away from her, like they had that morning when she had first awoken. Her head fell against her arm, once again as she leaned it forward, closing her eyes. Both arms came up to wrap around her, as if it would somehow help block out the rest of the world. The solitude of the moment was quickly broken, however, by the sound of a voice nearby.  


“Dr. Sobeck?”  


Her arms quickly uncurled from around her head as she opened her eyes, revealing a blurry image of the world before her. She wiped at them with her hands, blinking several times until everything grew clear, once again. The image of Samina kneeling before her, a concerned expression on her face, immediately greeted her and she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.  


“Are you okay?”  


She tried to say something, but suddenly seemed incapable of forming words, so she simply nodded, beginning to push herself into a sitting position.  


“I heard someone shout and came to see what happened,” the other woman explained, “and then I found you here. Did you fall?”  


“I… don’t remember,” she answered; it was technically the truth.  


“Were you… walking in your sleep?” Samina asked, hesitating a moment.  


Elisabet shrugged, beginning to rise to her feet. As she did, she staggered to one side, one hand instantly shooting out to brace herself against the wall. Samina quickly scrambled to her feet, as well, tentatively placing one hand on her shoulder.  


“Do you… do this often?”  


“Not that I recall,” she answered, laughing dryly, “and no one’s ever told me.”  


Samina’s lips pulled into a thin line as she regarded her with the same worried expression she had worn this entire time.  


“You really need sleep, Elisabet…”  


“I was,” she shot back, her tone much more intense than she had intended, causing her to wince slightly as Samina recoiled, her hand moving from her shoulder. “I’m… I’m sorry, I…”  


“It’s okay,” the other woman jumped in. “I think I know something that might help you actually get some rest.”  


The walk through the various hallways, following Samina, seemed to last forever in the silence that had fallen over the two of them. With each passing minute, however, Elisabet’s senses seemed to come back to her, the cold floor under her bare feet sending a shiver up her spine and forcing her to fold her arms across her chest, holding them close to her body. A thought suddenly occurred to her and she glanced down at her left arm, holding it out in front of her slightly. As her eyes fell on her unbroken skin, her heart rate began to shoot up, a tight feeling appearing in her throat. Before she had a chance to slip into a full-on panic attack, however, the sound of a door sliding open caused her head to snap up and she saw Samina glancing back at her, leading the way into the kitchen where they had met that morning.  


“Take a seat,” she said, gesturing to one of the empty tables.  


With a slight nod, she obeyed, sliding into one of the chairs nearest to her and resting her elbows on the table surface. Her hands reached up to rub at her eyes, once again, a heavy sigh escaping her. Along with the feeling of cold from the metal floor, slight aches and pains began to come to her attention, specifically in her right hip and shoulder. She grimaced slightly and shifted in her seat uncomfortably.  


A moment later, a mug appeared on the table in front of her and she jumped slightly. Glancing up, she saw Samina looking at her with the same worried expression she had worn for the past several minutes.  


“Try this.”  


Elisabet tentatively took the handle of the mug and pulled it closer, glancing down at the steaming liquid inside it. She couldn’t immediately figure out what it was by the sight and smell alone, and she nearly reached for the device that usually hung on her right ear before pausing mid-motion. Not only was the device currently not on her ear, but the thought that she shouldn’t have to be so doubtful of something Samina was giving her caused her to lower her hand, cupping the mug with both hands.  


After carefully blowing on it, she sipped at the liquid inside. She started slightly at the temperature, but it wasn’t unbearably hot. The drink had a sweet first taste, followed by a slightly more earthy, herbal aftertaste; all things considered, she actually liked it.  


“What is it?”  


“Herbal tea with a small spoonful of honey.”  


Elisabet looked up at Samina and gave her a small smile.  


“I like it.”  


The other woman returned the expression as Elisabet took another sip, the warmth from the drink feeling as if it were spreading out from the center of her chest. With the warm feeling, her heart rate seemed to finally begin to lower, the roiling, tense thoughts in the back of her mind slowly fading away, as well.  


“My mother always made it as a bedtime tea when I couldn’t sleep,” Samina continued. “I found it helps calm the mind, as well as just make you feel tired.”  


Elisabet nodded, already feeling her eyelids beginning to droop. All of her fatigue seemed to hit her at once, and a yawn forced its way out of her.  


“Looks like it’s working.”  


She shot the other woman a narrow-eyed look before laughing softly and taking another sip.  


“I guess so.”  


With another yawn, she pushed her chair back and began to stand up, grabbing the mug off the table as she did.  


“I think I’m going to take this back with me.”  


“Okay,” the other woman nodded. “Sleep well, Elisabet.”  


“You, as well.”  


Her walk back to her quarters seemed to take forever, but she didn’t move with any sense of speed or urgency, instead opting to meander at a casual pace, both hands cupped around her now half-full mug. The gunmetal grey walls of the facility seemed to stretch on in every direction endlessly, but she had walked the path enough times to make it almost purely by instinct. With each step, though, the ache in her right side seemed to flare up, but she tried to push it out of her mind. Finally, she found herself standing in front of her door and she jumped slightly. Shaking her head, she opened the lock and the doors slid open.  


For a second, she almost expected the room to be the wooden building from earlier, but instead it was simply the mostly empty, cluttered space she had inhabited for the past month or so. Almost immediately, however, she realized that it appeared to be more cluttered than normal, and she frowned, stepping inside. Things had been moved out of their normal place, a good deal of the contents from the crate that had held her clothes were strewn about the floor nearby, while numerous other things appeared to simply be moved.  


She stepped farther into the room, looking around for signs of anything missing, but nothing immediately caught her eye. The thought that someone would want to steal anything from her in such a small, enclosed environment seemed to be a ridiculous notion, but she didn’t want to rule anything out immediately, just in case. Frowning slightly, she turned away from her disturbed things and faced the bed. The sheets hardly looked ruffled, but then she also vaguely remembered falling asleep on top of them, so it wasn’t like she would have had to throw them aside to stand up and walk away.  


The fact that she had ended up outside her quarters was something that both confused and intrigued her. If she had simply been sleepwalking and just seeing everything at the wooden cabin while she was actually walking about the facility, that didn’t explain the ransacked room and the lack of marks on her left arm. A shiver ran up her spine as she sipped the tea, found it wasn’t nearly as hot anymore, and downed the remainder in one go. She placed the empty mug on the nightstand before letting out another yawn and sliding into bed.  


As the lights dimmed, once again, and she closed her eyes, pulling the sheets up to her neck, one final thought crossed her mind as she drifted off to sleep.  


“ _These aren’t quite as comfortable as that fur one._ ”


	5. New Machines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who keeps reading, thank you so much. It's awesome to see people digging it. Next chapter coming atcha.

Unfortunately, the news of Elisabet's nighttime adventures seemed to have spread quickly, because almost as soon as she was at her desk the following morning, she found a message from Charles inquiring about her wellbeing. With a sigh, she hung her head, shaking it slowly. Finally, she reached up and tapped the reply button next to his message.  


“I’m fine, thank you. Just a lack of sleep getting to me, I think.”  


She sent the reply and immediately dismissed the messaging application, focusing on her task list that seemed to have grown by several bullet points since yesterday.  


“And here I thought I had checked some things off.”  


“Elisabet, it is good to see you back this morning.”  


The voice caught her by surprise and she jumped slightly, looking around before realizing that it was coming from the console nearby. With a sigh, she shook her head, rubbing her eyes with one hand.  


“Thank you, GAIA, but I’m fine.”  


“The concern shown by your colleagues made me fear that it may have been serious.”  


“Snooping on my messages, are you?”  


A smirk pulled at her lips as she turned back to her workstation in front of her and set about the project she had put on pause the night before.  


“I am integrated into the operating systems that allow me to do so,” the voice said. “Would you like me to stop monitoring the messages?”  


“No, it’s…” Elisabet said quickly before pausing, her hand frozen mid-motion. “It’s fine… I want you to keep monitoring just… just in case.”  


“Understood.”  


She sighed, folding her arms on her desk and leaning forward, pressing her forehead against them, half-expecting the sensation of braids hanging from her hair as she did.  


“Snap out of it,” she muttered to herself. “It should be a dream, but… it didn’t seem to be. You can’t explain it, so… not your problem, for now.”  


“What was not a dream?”  


Elisabet smirked, lifting her head.  


“Eavesdropping?”  


“You are the only one here, so I am typically inclined to listen to whatever you are saying.”  


“Well, you should know I mutter to myself a lot, then,” she said, laughing dryly. “Just… weird dreams. Nothing to worry about.”  


“If they lead to gaps in your memory, perhaps it is of medical concern.”  


Elisabet’s mouth hung open slightly, surprise clearly reading in her expression.  


“How did you…?”  


“Messages between Dr. Ebadji and Charles Ronson.”  


With that, a chime that told her a new message had arrived sounded and she tapped the device on her ear, bringing up the messaging application, once again. A message that was not originally addressed to her had appeared in her inbox, clearly sent to her by GAIA. She opened it and scanned through the messages sent by Samina and Charles. After reading through them, she found her hands clenched into fists in her lap, her jaw clenched shut tightly.  


“Fuck!”  


She suddenly jumped to her feet, stalking away from her desk as she ran her hands back through her hair.  


“Dr. Sobeck—”  


“I should have expected this would just start spreading everywhere,” she snapped. “Look, Elisabet’s finally breaking! Fuck, fuck, fuck!”  


“Elisabet.”  


She spun in place on her next step, whirling to face the glowing, orb-like console that, at the moment, constituted GAIA. The use of her first name, instead of her title had caused her to stop mid-rant, her mouth still hanging open slightly, as if her words had literally been stolen from her.  


“They were simply voicing concern for you,” the voice continued. “I do not believe they were doubting your abilities or mental health, other than effects created through stress and lack of sleep, however these were done through concern, not doubt.”  


After a few more seconds of silence, she laughed, shaking her head.  


“Well… I guess even as a grown woman, I still need a mother, after all.”  


“I do not understand what you mean.”  


Elisabet just shook her head, laughing softly as she walked back to her desk.  


“It’s nothing. Just… thank you.”  


She took a seat in front of it, falling into the chair with a quiet groan. Her head fell back as she absentmindedly stared up at the ceiling for a moment or two, slowly rotating in the swivel chair. With a deep inhalation through her nose, her eyes slid closed. The breath held in her chest for a moment or two before a sinking feeling in her gut made her feel almost as if she had been spun around violently in her chair.  


Her eyes immediately shot open as the world spun for a split second, finally coming to a stop as she felt her weight land on her feet, her knees instantly buckling slightly. She staggered to her left and fell to the ground, throwing her arms out to break her fall. Almost immediately, her knees and palms slammed into the hard surface, causing her to let out a grunt of pain.  


Her heart rate had instantly skyrocketed, leaving her breathless as her chest heaved, her eyes staring at the ground, but not truly comprehending what she was seeing for several moments. Finally, she blinked and the surface came into focus. An icy feeling gripped her chest as she saw wooden boards beneath her hands, as well as long red braids of hair hanging in front of her. A vague rushing sound in her ears seemed to block out the rest of the world as she slowly lifted her head, taking in more of her immediate vicinity. The rushing sound must have been water, because she seemed to be on some type of bridge, but she couldn’t immediately see where it was. The entire world was cast in a silvery-blue glow, giving everything an oddly eerie appearance.  


Something suddenly touched her shoulder and she whirled to face it, inadvertently throwing her balance off and falling onto her side. Her eyes were wide as she stared up at a person standing over her, a look of confusion on his face. His dress was unlike anything she had seen in her lifetime, his outfit made up of a mixture of tanned leather, animal furs, and metal parts. The sides of his head were shaved, but the hair down the middle remained, almost like an odd, curly Mohawk. A splash of blue paint adorned the right half of his face, stretching from his forehead, over his eye, and halfway down his cheek.  


Pure panic had settled into her chest as she began to twist herself so that she could crawl away, her head whipping around to take in the rest of the scene around them. As she turned to her right, she saw the computer console and desk from her office at the facility, once again, but a blink later and she was staring at a large gate stretching into the sky. It was made in a similar style to the cabin she had seen before: wooden tree trunks bound together by wire and rope; it seemed surprisingly sturdy, despite the fact that one half seemed to be leaning precariously, as if it had been hit rather hard by something large.  


Her back was suddenly pressed against a hard surface and she swore she heard the sound of wheels on a metal floor as she saw her own desk a moment later, the main console screen still left open, only for the image to be replaced by that of the man with the unusual clothing and face paint a moment later. The pounding of her heartbeat seemed to fill her ears, blocking out all other sounds around her as she quickly glanced off to her left, past the man.  


Several others similar in appearance to him milled about nearby, but the next thing that immediately caught her eye was the large machine that was now laying destroyed at the end of the bridge. It’s hulking form immediately made her want to get as far away from it as possible, but the lack of motion or illuminated lights anywhere on it told her that it most likely would not be getting up anytime soon.  


At that moment, movement from the man in front of her caused her head to whip around to face him, once again. He had lowered to a crouch before her, the confused expression now changed to one more of concern and… something that looked like fear. Distrust, perhaps. His lips moved and she realized that he had actually spoken to her already, but she had simply blocked out whatever he had actually said.  


“Are you okay?”  


Her mind was blank, the panic gripping her seemingly stealing any rational thoughts from forming, but she forced herself to at least say something.  


“What?”  


Her voice… it had the same youthful timbre as before.  


“You suddenly fell down and now you look like you’ve seen a spirit,” he said. “Are you okay?”  


“I… uh…”  


She trailed off, unsure what to say.  


“I… I… yeah… just… dizzy… all of the sudden.”  


He gave her a strange look, but slowly rose to his feet, once again, before extending a hand down toward her.  


“I hope whatever condition ‘dizzy’ is, it isn’t contagious.”  


Now it was her turn to stare back at him in confusion, but she quickly pushed it aside, tentatively taking his offered hand and using it to help pull herself to her feet. To her surprise, she leapt up much faster than expected, almost instantly popping into a standing position.  


“Are you sure you will be able to make it out on the trail by yourself?” the man asked. “You just overcame your injuries.”  


“I’m… I’ll make it,” she replied, nodding.  


“Okay, well… then may the goddess protect you on your way.”  


She didn’t know what to say in return, so she simply nodded and he returned the gesture before walking away. As he moved away from her, she quickly stole a glance down at herself, taking in her clothing that seemed similar in origin to the man’s. A light-brown tunic stretched down into a full skirt section made out of stitched animal furs that featured more of the blue and red designs that seemed to be the trademark of the rest of the clothes. The same brightly-colored necklace and the one with the bone ornament at the end from before hung around her neck, while she could make out the familiar brown tunic underneath the outer one she was wearing. Despite all of this, she still seemed to be lacking anything in the form of sleeves.  


She quickly passed off her glance by brushing her palms against the skirt section, wiping away some of the dirt from her fall moments ago. As her head lifted, once again, she took in the entirety of the scenery before her, which she had missed in her moment of panic earlier. Instead of metal, machinery, and man-made monuments, lush natural life stretched out before her as far as she could see. Trees grew everywhere, grass unburned by toxic fumes and harsh sunlight covered the ground, and the sounds of small animals and bugs coming out for the night filled the air.  


“ _This doesn’t feel like a dream, just like before._ ”  


She glanced back toward the gate before turning and walking across the remainder of the bridge, giving the hulking machine carcass a wide berth. Just before she stepped onto the dirt at the end of it, however, she came to an abrupt halt, staring down at a much smaller machine carcass at her feet. Her breath caught in her chest as she recognized its design: it was the same as the one she had seen in her strange vision-like flashes in the lab the day before. It had two legs and a large, singular eye at the end of a long, flexible neck. The light in the eye was dark, and it was quite clear that some of the parts on the outside had been stripped away, most likely from the process of destroying it.  


The image of the machine disappeared for a moment, replaced by that of the main door to her office, her hand seemingly outstretched toward the lock in the center. Before she could actually open the door, or even do more than blink, once again, she was back at the end of the bridge, the destroyed machine still at her feet. Her previously outstretched hand was still at her side, causing her to feel dizzy, once again. She swallowed back the rising nauseous feeling and rubbed at both eyes with her hands.  


The realization that she had been staring at the machine for quite some time dawned on her and she quickly shook her head, forcing herself to look up and begin moving, once again. Just as she did, she heard the voice of the man who had spoken to her earlier shouting from behind her. She began to turn around when her foot caught on something and she let out a shriek of surprise, her balance tipping backward. A moment later, she landed on her backside, the shock from the hard surface shooting up her tailbone as she let out a grunt of pain, followed quickly by a quiet moan. With a grimace, she glanced down at the destroyed machine by her feet, the neck of it clearly what had tripped her a moment ago. The sound of the man’s shouting persisted, although now its tone seemed tempered by what sounded like amusement as she glanced around the scene before her; at first she had wondered if he had been shouting some kind of warning, but after searching for signs of any incoming machines like the ones lying around her, she found nothing. The shouting sounded as if it were getting closer, and she realized that he was only saying a single word.  


Confusion creased her face as her eyes found the man walking toward her, the sound of his footsteps drawing nearer on the wooden bridge. As her eyes focused on his face, she found a smirk pulling at his lips.  


“I didn’t realize your hearing hadn’t fully healed yet,” he remarked, still approaching her.  


“What?” she replied dumbly, instantly cursing herself for the response.  


“I’ve been calling your name and you just kept staring at that Watcher.”  


Her heart began to pound in her chest as she instantly felt the palms of her hands slick with sweat, prompting her to press them against the sides of her skirt.  


“Y-you—  


Suddenly, she blinked and the image of the man on the bridge was replaced by that of her familiar workshop in the facility. She was standing in the middle of it, her eyes vaguely focused on a large, metallic sphere connected to a multitude of wires and cables, small lights flashing and flickering across its surface.  


“—have?”


	6. Head Wound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back, back again? It's me. It's Monday. It was nice where I live today, but that's not relevant to this chapter. Hope everyone keeps enjoying where the story is going so far!

Her voice sounded small in the room, the last word half caught in her throat.  


After another moment of breathing deeply, her senses seemed to fully come back to her and she began to take stock of her surroundings. Something hard and cold was pressed against her back, but what drew her attention most was the throbbing pain in her forehead, just above her right eye, that seemed to fade into existence. With a groan, she reached one hand toward the spot where the pain seemed to originate from, only to feel it flare up at her touch. She sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth as she quickly pulled her hand away, but not before feeling something warm and wet under her fingers.  


Her hand came into view before her, revealing the splash of blood across her fingertips. It took another second or two for her to realize that it was hers. Ignoring the pain from before, she quickly reached up and ran her fingers over the spot, gritting her teeth. The entire right side of her forehead felt slick under her touch, the warm, wet substance also extending down near her right temple, beginning to stretch past her eye.  


“Blood… I… I’m bleeding,” she said aloud, forcing her thoughts into a coherent line. “Shit, I’m bleeding…”  


She pushed off the surface behind her as she glanced down at her bloody fingertips, once again. The throbbing sensation in her forehead seemed to only grow stronger as she took a step or two forward, but she forced herself to ignore it. Suddenly, an electronic chime sounded from across the room and she glanced up, looking around for the source of it, but seeing nothing out of the normal.  


“Dr. Sobeck?”  


The calm, feminine voice quickly drew her attention to the metallic sphere, although nothing obvious had changed on it. With a sigh, she allowed her shoulders to relax slightly.  


“Y-yes, GAIA?”  


“Query: Are you okay?”  


She nodded slowly, but quickly realized that the computer probably couldn’t see her.  


“Think so,” she said. “Just… hit my head.”  


“You did so when you fell from your chair,” the computer continued. “You were not yourself for two minutes.”  


Something about that statement made the hair on the back of her neck stand up, but before she could ask anything, the computerized voice had continued.  


“I alerted Dr. Ebadji and Charles Ronson about your condition. They are on their way.”  


“You… alerted…? Shit,” she swore under her breath, her right hand clenching into a fist.  


“Query: are you angry that I have done this?”  


“I…”  


Elisabet trailed off as she closed her eyes, pressing her left hand against her temple firmly. Her arms and shoulders were visibly shaking as her jaw clenched shut. She drew a single, long breath through her nose before a different electronic chime sounded from across the room and her eyes shot open, the breath forced out of her in a sharp gasp.  


Her eyes immediately focused on the door sliding open, revealing Samina as she hurried through it. She skidded to a stop at the sight of Elisabet just in front of her, eyes widening for a moment, before she blinked rapidly and began to advance more slowly.  


“Elisabet?” she said tentatively.  


“Y-yes, Samina?”  


She looked somewhat relieved that she had responded, but continued to move tentatively, almost as if she were afraid.  


“You’re bleeding,” she said, her tone simply stating a fact.  


“I guess I am,” Elisabet replied, nodding slowly, glancing down at her right hand to see that she had smeared the blood on her fingers across her palm when she had clenched it into a fist a moment ago.  


“Do you… remember why?”  


Her eyes instantly shot up to look at Samina, once again, causing the woman to stop in her tracks. Their eyes met for several long moments before Elisabet cleared her throat.  


“I think I better head down to the infirmary to get this all cleaned up,” she said, still meeting the other woman’s gaze.  


Samina simply nodded, remaining where she was. With a sigh, Elisabet began to walk toward her, and the door. As she passed the other woman, she turned and fell in step beside her. Just as she went to open the door to the hallway, the familiar electronic chime of the lock opening sounded and both women jumped in surprise. A figure began to quickly step through the door, but jumped back at the sight of two other people immediately in front of him. His surprised expression quickly turned to one of concern as his eyes fell on Elisabet.  


“Dr. Sobeck,” he said, clearly unsure of what to say. “I would ask if you’re okay, but that nasty wound on your forehead tells me everything, I think.”  


“We were just on our way to the infirmary,” she replied, nodding.  


“Are you feeling okay to walk there?”  


“I’m fine, Charles,” she replied, a hint of venom appearing in her tone. “I’ve survived worse.”  


An unreadable expression crossed through his eyes for a moment before he nodded and stepped aside. Elisabet simply nodded at him before stepping to his left, stalking down the hallway. An extra set of footsteps followed quickly after her, but she didn’t want to spare a glance back just yet. As she approached the door to the stairs and reached out to open it, she caught sight of Samina coming up behind her out of the corner of her eye.  


They didn’t say anything to each other as the familiar electronic chime sounded and the door slid open, revealing the stairwell leading down to the lower floors. Elisabet stepped inside, reaching out toward the handrail and grasping it firmly before setting off down the stairs, the pain in her head flaring with each step. Once they had descended two floors, she opened the door on the new level and led the way into yet another hallway.  


The rest of the trip to the infirmary passed in silence, as well, Samina clearly choosing to hold her tongue; Elisabet didn’t entirely blame her after her interaction with Charles, though. Finally, they reached the room and stepped inside, the harsh, white lights inside flickering to life as they entered.  


“Take a seat,” Samina suddenly said, causing her to jump slightly in surprise at the sudden sound of her voice.  


“I can—”  


“Elisabet, take a seat.”  


The commanding tone to her voice was so different from what she was used to hearing from Samina, but she obeyed, stepped over to a small patient’s table in the middle of the room and hopping onto the end of it. Her face contorted in a wince as the pain flared, once again, but she quickly hid it as Samina removed some supplies from a cabinet and opened the packaging.  


Once she turned around, she set to work on the brooding redhead. She quickly but gently wiped away a good deal of the blood with a piece of gauze before examining her forehead more closely.  


“Doesn’t look deep,” she commented before grabbing a fresh piece and dousing it in a clear liquid. “This will still sting a bit.”  


As she pressed the soaked gauze to her forehead, Elisabet bit back the urge to wince or make any noise at the sudden stinging and burning sensation that came from where the peroxide touched the wound. Oddly enough, memories of sitting on the toilet lid while her mother dabbed at cuts and scrapes when she was a child came back to her, but she quickly pushed them aside.  


“There, I’ll get a bandage on the wound, and at least keep you from getting blood all over your face for the rest of the day.”  


Elisabet just nodded as Samina quickly grabbed a rather large, square-shaped adhesive bandage and applied it carefully to her forehead. Once she had run her fingers over it to smooth it out as best she could, she nodded, taking a step back.  


“There’s probably some pain medication around here for the aching,” she said, moving to throw away the bloodied gauze.  


“What did GAIA tell you?”  


Samina stopped mid-motion, her hand hovering above the trash bin. Slowly, she turned to look back at Elisabet to find the woman staring vacantly down at the floor between them for a moment before her eyes turned to meet hers and focused intently on her. After another long moment or two, Samina sighed, dropping the gauze in the bin before turning around to face the other woman.  


“She told me that you were hurt and needed help.”  


“And?”  


“So I came.”  


“That’s all she told you?”  


Elisabet’s tone was surprisingly not accusatory but almost… disappointed.  


“She said that you had fallen and…”  


Samina trailed off, her eyes refusing to meet the other woman’s as she suddenly looked to her expectantly.  


“…And that you were behaving somewhat erratically.”  


Elisabet’s expression was unreadable as she stared back at Samina, but her eyes were unfocused. A tight feeling had appeared in her chest while her stomach seemed to have simultaneously flipped over and sunk deep in her abdomen. She became aware that her hands had clenched around the edge of the table and carefully relaxed her fingers, feeling the slick sheen of cold sweat on her palms as she did.  


“Elisabet, I know all that is at stake,” Samina said softly, “but if you need someone to… confide in, please… don’t hold back from reaching out.”  


Her jaw clenched as she swallowed at the lump in her throat, seemingly preventing her from speaking.  


“I’m—”  


“Don’t say you’re fine.”  


Elisabet’s words caught in her throat as she stared bewildered at the other woman, who had finally mustered the courage to return her gaze.  


“I can see that you’re not. I don’t doubt your ability to keep working, but… I don’t want to keep seeing you like this.”  


After several long moments of silence, Elisabet finally managed to swallow the lump in her throat that had been preventing her from speaking and let out a shallow sigh.  


“Okay… thanks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another note--surprise. Just as a little update that didn't seem relevant at the beginning of the chapter, there is a lot more of this story already written/planned out, so 1) don't worry that it will stop or be abandoned in the near future and 2) if there are questions/things you wonder will happen, there is still lots of time for these things to be revealed. If anyone has any questions, by all means leave them in a comment and I will try to answer as much as possible without giving any spoilers away!


	7. You Were Not Yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to start getting confusing for poor Elisabet, but it's good for the story. I promise.

“Confirmation: MINVERVA sub function relay tower design is fully implemented. Test programs are successful.”  


Elisabet pushed away from her desk, letting out a heavy sigh as she rubbed her eyes with her hands.  


“Query: are you not happy?”  


“I am, I am,” she said, nodding. “It’s just… relief, I guess. After we heard about the Odyssey… well, the team needs something good to hear.”  


“May I speak out of protocol?”  


Elisabet laughed softly before giving her consent.  


“You seem to display emotions with rather misleading gestures.”  


Actual laughter escaped Elisabet as she folded one arm across her chest, propping her opposite elbow on it and holding her forehead with her hand.  


“You’re not the first person to say something like that,” she muttered under her breath.  


“I’m sorry, I missed what you said.”  


“It’s nothing, GAIA,” she said quickly. “What you said just amused me, that’s all.”  


“I do not see why such an observation is so humorous, which only fits in with the nature of it.”  


“The day an AI can actually fully understand humor and sarcasm is one I fear,” she commented, moving back toward her desk.  


“I am trying to learn as much as I can from you and the rest of your team.”  


“I know, and you’re doing very well.”  


Elisabet sighed as she leaned forward, placing her hands on the edge of the desk to prop herself up. Her eyes stared vacantly at the surface before her, but it was clear her mind was elsewhere. Slowly, the amusement in her expression began to fade, leaving behind one that seemed neutral, but the sudden clarity in her eyes revealed that it was simply a mask for the chest-constricting emotion inside her.  


“GAIA…?” she began softly, her voice trailing off in the empty room.  


After a moment or two of silence, when it was clear she was not going to continue immediately, the calm, feminine voice of the AI rang throughout the room.  


“Yes, Dr. Sobeck?”  


“Yesterday you told me that I wasn’t myself for two minutes, at one point, and you told Samina that I was behaving erratically,” she began before stopping, once again, her mouth hanging open slightly as she contemplated whether she actually wanted to ask the next question.  


“Yes, I did,” the AI replied. “Query: are you upset that I did?”  


“Yes… I mean no… I…”  


She trailed off, still staring down at the desk surface in front of her. Finally, she took a deep breath, trying to ignore how fast her heart was pounding in her chest.  


“How was I behaving, exactly?”  


“I do not understand—”  


“Yes, you do,” Elisabet said more forcefully, her eyes finally rising from the desk surface to the far wall. “GAIA, answer me.”  


A long silence followed her demand before the calm voice returned, once again.  


“You began to act confused and when I inquired into your wellbeing, you seemed to become even more distressed and panicked.”  


“Did I… say or… do anything?”  


“You spoke, yes.”  


“Was it as if to another person? Someone who wasn’t in the room… and not you?”  


Elisabet’s hands reflexively curled into fists on the surface of her desk, the skin of her palms clearly slick with sweat.  


“It did not appear so.”  


Her stomach flipped in her abdomen and her heart rate seemed to grind to a screeching halt for several painful seconds before she forced herself to take a deep breath and swallow back the nauseous feeling that had begun to rise in her throat.  


“W-what… what did I say?” she asked. “Did I… do anything strange, as well?”  


“For your first question: you asked many questions, as well; however they seemed to be less specific. To your second question: you behaved in a panicked manner, seemingly as if you were unfamiliar with your location.”  


Elisabet pushed away from her desk, placing her hands behind her head as she began to pace about the room, her eyes glassy and staring vacantly a few feet ahead of her.  


“What… what did I say?”  


“It is clear that you have no memory of the events and this is causing you great distress,” the calm, robotic voice said, seemingly ignoring her question. “Query: are you sure you would like to continue this line of questioning?”  


Elisabet whirled around to stare at the vague yellow shape that, for the moment, constituted GAIA.  


“Why all of the misdirection?” she suddenly spat. “I don’t remember programming anything like this.”  


“I am not trying to misdirect you,” the voice came again. “I am simply looking after your well-being.”  


“Then answer the fucking question!”  


She brought her fist down toward the nearest desk surface, but just as she expected it to slam into the metal fixture, she heard a loud crunching and tearing of metal, followed by an odd whirring sound. It took her a second to realize that she suddenly was not staring down at a desk in a metal facility, but instead one of the one-eyed machines she had now seen twice before. Her hands were firmly wrapped around the wooden shaft of a spear, the tip buried deep inside the body of the machine.  


A gasp forced itself out of her as she staggered backwards, releasing the weapon from her grip. Her head spun on a swivel as she took in her surroundings, her heart beat pounding in her ears. The sounds of her feet skidding across the dry, rocky surface of a worn trail through the wilderness seemed to bring her back to the moment, her eyes finally seeming to focus on the actual details of her surroundings.  


She whirled to face the skewered machine, once again, only for the image to be replaced by that of her desk, the screen showing the readout for GAIA directly in front of her.  


“Dr. Sobeck?”  


She blinked and yet again the image of the destroyed machine appeared before her. Her eyes focused on the image as she took purposeful steps toward it, her hands clenching into fists at her sides. As they extended toward the spear, a strange throbbing sensation appeared in her temples and she felt unsteady on her feet. Her jaw clenched tightly and she forced herself to reach for the weapon.  


As her fingers closed around the wooden shaft, she suddenly found them open, once again, placed flat against a glass surface: a window looking down at more of the facility below her. Her breath hitched slightly before she found her hands wrapped around the spear, once again. The sensation of moving from one physical position to another without actually making herself do it caused her head to spin and she felt her balance tip dangerously to one side, but her grip on the spear tightened and she grit her teeth.  


“No you don’t,” she growled. “Not again.”  


Her legs felt as if she were drunk, her knees bending and giving as if the ground were rolling and pitching, yet it remained as still as ever beneath her feet. The warm spear beneath her hands disappeared, once again, to be replaced by the cold metal of the desk, her hands firmly gripping the edge of it. She was vaguely aware of a voice speaking, but she didn’t have time to make out any of the words before she pushed back from the surface, the cold metal instantly giving way to warm, natural wood as she heard a loud crunching sound.  


She staggered back several feet before realizing that she had pulled the spear from the machine and was now simply holding it in front of her. Almost instantly, however, the world seemed to spin around her and a powerful throbbing appeared in her temples. Suddenly, she was back in the office, yet again, but was now standing in the center of the open space behind her desk, her hands held up before her, as if she had been staring at them. Slowly, she curled them into fists before lowering her arms to her sides.  


“Relax, you are in a safe environment.”  


“GAIA…”  


The AI’s voice stopped for a moment, almost like a person unsure what to say next.  


“Elisabet?”  


“Show me what just happened.”  


“Query: Are you—?”  


“I know you recorded it,” she said, stepping toward the console she had come to know as the “face” of the AI. “Show it to me, now. Start right after I demanded you answer me.”  


There was another pause before the device on her right ear activated and the web of purple lines overlaid over the real world appeared around her. A moment later, a slightly distorted image of herself appeared in front of the desk, her hands behind her head.  


“Then answer the fucking question!”  


Her voice sounded odd digitized and slightly distorted as the image spun around, bringing her fist down toward the far corner of the desk. As soon as it hit the surface, her demeanor visibly changed. Her motions immediately freezing before the anger gave way to what could have been panic. The image’s eyes widened as she staggered back a step or two, looking around the room. A strange, tinny chime came through the recording as she heard GAIA begin to speak.  


“You asked about your location, seemingly as if you had no—”  


The image of her from minutes ago jumped at the voice, letting out a shriek in surprise as she staggered backwards quickly before running into the large window behind her. GAIA stopped speaking almost immediately as the image of Elisabet stared almost directly at where she stood now, sending a shiver down her spine. Something about the look in her eyes from the recording made it feel almost like it was a different person staring at her, even though the image was almost exactly like looking in a mirror.  


“Dr. Sobeck?”  


A moment later, she blinked rapidly and glanced down at her hands placed against the glass behind her. She spun around to face the window, placing both hands flat against the surface as she only heard heavy breathing come from the recording of herself.  


“Dr. Sobeck?” GAIA repeated somewhat more insistently.  


The image of herself visibly stiffened for a moment before attempting to step away from the window and staggering, her legs nearly giving out as her hands shot out to grip the edge of the nearby desk.  


“You are behaving erratically, once again. Query: can you hear me?”  


The image of herself seemed to ignore GAIA for a moment until she shoved herself backward, taking several steps before coming to a stop, hands slowly raising before her, fingers visibly shaking.  


“Y-you… again…”  


The image suddenly froze just as she began to stagger slightly, the edges of it distorting ever so slightly as the digital Elisabet was stuck staring down at her hands.  


“That is just before you seemed to return to a coherent state,” GAIA informed.  


Elisabet continued to stare at the image of herself, studying the expression on her face, but with the slight distortion and subtle purple coloration from the digital image, it made it difficult to fully read exactly what it may mean.  


“Query: do you not remember this period of time?”  


She continued to stare at the image for a few more moments before reaching up toward the device attached to her ear and tapping the small button on the outside, turning it off and removing the image and the web or purple lines from her vision.  


“GAIA, I need you to lock any and all of this information to me only,” she said. “Including any mention of it. This information is now highly classified.”  


A brief pause followed before an electronic chime sounded from the speakers.  


“Information has been restricted to Dr. Elisabet Sobeck, only,” she confirmed. “May I speak out of protocol?”  


“No,” Elisabet replied, her hands reflexively clenching into fists at her sides. “Show me the recording from the previous time I was ‘incoherent.’”  


Another brief pause followed before the device on her ear re-activated and the same web of lines appeared, followed soon after by yet another spectral image of herself, this time not sporting a bandage above her right eye.  


“Just… thank you.”  


The image of herself let out a heavy sigh, moving over to a chair that had been moved to the other side of the desk in the real world and taking a seat in seemingly thin air. Her shoulders sagged slightly as she let out a heavy sigh, leaning her head back. She slowly began to turn in her chair before she suddenly seemed to jerk awake, her head snapping up as her legs kicked out. Almost immediately, she seemed to lose balance and pitch forward, slamming her head into the edge of the desk with a distorted, but noticeably loud, bang.  


A cry of pain and surprise escaped her lips as she fell to the floor, throwing her arms up to prevent herself from hitting her head again. The image remained on the floor for a moment or two before quickly scrambling to get to her feet. She managed to twist so she was on her backside before crawling quickly away from the desk and chair.  


“I detect you have fallen. Are you okay?” GAIA’s distorted voice asked, only causing the image of Elisabet to jump even more, almost instantly sliding another foot or so across the ground.  


“Who said that?” she said, her head whipping around in all directions seemingly in search of the voice.  


“We were just conversing—”  


It was clear the Elisabet lying on the floor was not listening to GAIA, though. Her eyes were wide as her chest heaved in rapid breaths. After another moment or two of the AI talking, the image happened to glance down at herself and, if possible, her eyes grew even wider. Her lips moved, but the real Elisabet couldn’t make out what she had said. Suddenly, she scrambled to her feet and began to turn in place, taking in the room. Finally, her gaze seemed to settle on the suspended interface that represented GAIA and she slowly began to move toward it.  


“You—you’re a—machine?”  


“According to the information provided by you, I am an artificial intelligence,” GAIA replied. “Although at some level I suppose I am technically a machine. Why does this seem to be a revelation for you?”  


The image of Elisabet visibly shuddered as she continued to stare at the floating orb before reaching up toward the device attached to her ear. As it activated, she jumped slightly, stepping back. A look of shock seemed to cross her face as the device deactivated.  


“This… it’s all still… working.”  


“Systems indicate that everything is functioning within acceptable parameters,” GAIA replied. “Have you encountered an issue?”  


She shook her head, whirling to look around the room, once again.  


“Where am I?” she suddenly demanded, staring at nowhere in particular.  


A moment of silence followed her question before GAIA responded.  


“Query: do you have any recollection of how you entered this room?”  


The image of Elisabet whirled around to face the desk, once again, her eyes piercing directly into the real one and making her shiver, again.  


“Did you bring me here?” she demanded.  


“I did not place any pressure or demands on you to come here. In fact, it was technically your choice.”  


“Where is here?” the image demanded, her tone sounding somewhere between angry and panicked, the last syllable cracking slightly as she spoke.  


“In a geographical sense, we are located near the city of Bryce, Utah,” GAIA continued. “In a more immediate sense, this is your office inside the Zero Dawn Facility.”  


“Zero Dawn?” she repeated. “What… where… U—tah?”  


The words sounded odd coming from her mouth, as if she had never really spoken them and was just discovering the combinations for the first time.  


“Query: do you remember how you entered this room?”  


The image of Elisabet ignored GAIA’s question and instead seemed to focus on something behind the computer. She quickly began to move around the desk, glancing about the space as she did. A moment later, her hand reached for where the door was and the tinny, distorted sound of it unlocking came through Elisabet’s device, but the actual door did not move. She quickly hurried around the desk, as well, just as the image of herself disappeared through the physical door, almost like some kind of ghost from a horror movie. Once she opened the door, she found the image of herself slowly walking through the lab space outside, turning in circles as she walked.  


The heaving of her chest and the panicked look on her face were entirely clear as Elisabet watched the recording, moving slowly after her. The image bumped into something and staggered slightly, glancing down at her feet before moving around whatever item had since been moved, skirting around seemingly empty air.  


“This… this whole place… it’s before the metal devil?”  


The hairs on the back of the real Elisabet’s neck stood up as she stared at the holographic recording of herself. As she watched, the image of herself seemed to focus on something to her left and she visibly gasped, eyes widening before backing into the glass wall behind her.  


“That… the voice… Are—is this where machines are—?”  


A strange shiver seemed to run through the image’s body as her sentence suddenly switched.  


“—have?”  


In addition to the change in thought, the sudden shift in tone from her voice was jarring, the panicked, incredulous one from moments ago replaced with a much smaller one, the word sounding almost stuck in her throat.  


“Was that a glitch in the recording?” the real Elisabet asked.  


The image of herself froze before her as the electronic chime from GAIA sounded throughout the room.  


“No, the footage is unaltered.”  


Elisabet shivered as she involuntarily rubbed her hands up and down her arms.  


“I… she… didn’t seem to know what any of this is,” she said quietly. “Almost like…”  


Her eyes suddenly widened as she found her balance tipping backward. She staggered a few steps until she came to a stop against the door to her office, her hands reaching out behind her to help steady herself.  


“Dr. Sobeck?”  


“No, no, this whole thing is crazy,” she said. “It’s not… it doesn’t make any goddamn sense.”  


“Dr. Sobeck, is everything okay?”  


Elisabet spun to face the door behind her and opened it, stepping into the office, once again. The door slid closed behind her as she moved in front of her desk, pausing as she stared vacantly at her various displays.  


“I need a way to find out…”  


“Dr. Sobeck, I am afraid I don’t follow what you are saying.”  


“GAIA,” she said suddenly, speaking at a more normal volume, “I want you to keep files of whenever I may behave as we’ve just seen. Log them with the information that’s restricted to me.”  


“Understood,” the synthetic voice replied. “Query: is there a reason this is being withheld from the others?”  


Elisabet’s teeth ground together as she placed the palms of her hands flat against the sides of her pants, rubbing the cold sweat off against the smooth fabric.  


“Just keep this between us, okay?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random extra thing that didn't seem necessary at the beginning of the chapter: it seems like the formatting on this story just shows up as one big long work unless you hit the "chapter by chapter" button at the top. I don't know if this is something weird just on my screen or if it's an actual formatting thing for everyone. If someone wants to be kind and tell me how to change this as a default, that would be much appreciated!


	8. War Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much clever to say today; it's Monday and so it's time for a new chapter. Tried to make sure this one was longer since the last few were relatively short, mostly by accident.

The shock of hot water splashing over her face brought Elisabet back to the present moment, her eyes opening as the small rivulets and drops cascaded off her chin and back into the sink below. Her reflection in the mirror before her showed just how exhausted she felt: eyes red and bloodshot and a facial expression that seemed to almost be tempted to sag right off her skull. She reached forward and turned the faucet off before grabbing the towel placed over her shoulder and using it to wipe the remaining water away. As she let it fall back in place, she continued to stare into the eyes of her reflection.  


“Battle plan,” she muttered, speaking just loudly enough to hear herself, but not so that anyone walking by could eavesdrop, “you can’t freak out the next time it happens. Stay calm—well, as calm as you can—and take in as much information as possible. Okay?”  


She laughed and shook her head as the thought of making a request of herself crossed her mind, suddenly sounding much more absurd than it had a moment ago when she had spoken.  


“Better keep that crazy talk to yourself, Lis, or people are really going to think you’ve lost it,” she muttered before turning to the door and exiting into the hallway.  


She didn’t run into anyone else as she made the trip back to her quarters, stepping inside and locking the door behind her. The towel fell on top of her crate of clothing as she absentmindedly tossed it across the room, groaning slightly as she stretched her neck side to side. With a heavy sigh, she fell onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling for several long moments before moving to pull the sheets over herself.  


“Lights off,” she mumbled, rolling onto her side.  


The room dimmed as she yawned, staring at the short stand at her bedside, the small, triangular device that she wore on her ear almost every waking minute lying upside down on it.  


“ _I can remember a time when that wasn’t the case,_ ” crossed her mind as her eyes drifted closed. “ _When was that, again?_ ”  


That night she dreamt of grassy fields and tall trees, the wind whipping through both with a constant rush of sound and calming touch against her skin, but she didn’t feel in control. They were just dreams. When she awoke to see the darkened metal ceiling overhead, she almost felt disappointed, but quickly forced herself to swallow it back as the lights came up and she slowly rolled out of bed.  


Once she was fully dressed, she grabbed the device from her bedside and placed it to her ear, making sure it was securely held before taking her hand away. The web of purple lines appeared around her as the day’s to-do list popped up and she absentmindedly waved it away. A new message notification appeared and she reached out to tap the icon. As soon as it opened, she realized that it wasn’t actually addressed to her; GAIA must have intercepted it from two of the others and sent it to her.  


Her eyes quickly scanned the message before glancing up to see who had sent it. She found herself unsurprised when the sender turned out to be Charles; the concern voiced within the few short paragraphs seemed entirely fitting with the way he always seemed to speak to her and check in every few hours. Waving the message away and closing the general interface of the device, she exited her quarters and began to make her way to the break room.  


The room was already occupied, but not by any of the people she had expected to see at this hour. A lone man sat at one of the tables, his posture reclined while his legs crossed at the ankles, both arms folded across his chest. At first she thought he was simply staring off into space, but she quickly realized that his eyes were closed and he was breathing in a slow, measured rhythm.  


“I never took you as one for meditation, Travis,” she remarked.  


The man’s eyes slid open and he blinked several times as he glanced over toward her.  


“Samina’s been tellin’ me about all the good it could do,” he said. “Didn’t believe her at first but now… gal just might be on to something.”  


Elisabet just grinned as she shook her head, moving farther into the room.  


“She’s right about a lot of things,” she commented. “I’ve discovered that.”  


“Man, I don’t know how the two of you can hang around each other so much, then,” he said. “Two women being so right all the time… must be terrifying.”  


“Or maybe she’s the only one I feel like I can speak evenly with.”  


Travis placed a hand over his heart as he made a pained face.  


“Cuts me real deep, Lis.”  


She only smirked in response before looking down at the counter. The broken coffee machine from several days ago now sat dark and dormant on the left side of the counter and she found the corners of her lips quickly turning in the opposite direction.  


“If it’s coffee you’re looking for, I boony-rigged something to work.”  


She glanced back at Travis as he grinned and pointed to something beside her. A glance down to where he was indicating revealed a large bowl with a paper filter fit over the opening. She carefully lifted the filter to find a good inch or two of brown liquid in the bottom.  


“Nothing like campfire-style coffee.”  


She just shook her head, sighing as she opened the cupboard and grabbed a cup from within. No steam came from the drink as she carefully poured herself some, and she cautiously took a sip. It was certainly strong, but also rather cold at this point.  


“How long ago did you make this?” she asked as she moved over to the microwave farther down the counter.  


“Well, I thought it wasn’t all that long ago,” Travis began, “but if you’re asking me, then I guess it was longer ago than I thought.”  


“That leads me to a second question, then,” she continued, stabbing the “start” button on the microwave and turning from the machine, “why are you up so early?”  


“Well, I think it’s more like ‘why are you still up?’”  


“You didn’t sleep?”  


“Well, we were stuck last night, and I kinda just kept working and then… boom, I’m getting a ‘wake up’ alarm and it’s like… ‘ah shit.’”  


Elisabet chuckled as the timer on the microwave indicated it was ready and she turned around. The mug inside was warm to the touch, but not too hot to hold, just as long as she primarily gripped it by the handle. Pulling it out, she hip-checked the door closed and moved over to the table where Travis was seated. She indicated the chair opposite him with an inquisitive look and he nodded.  


“So, in your insomnia,” she began, “did you come up with an answer to anything?”  


A small frown pulled at his lips as he absentmindedly scratched the back of his head.  


“Not a complete one, no.”  


“But a partial?”  


“Well, we’ve had an answer for a little while now, but…”  


Elisabet simply stared back at him as he sighed and leaned forward against the table, folding his arms before him.  


“Well, we’ve got HADES doing what we want it to do, take control and do its thing, but in taking GAIA’s hands off the wheel, it tends to… break her arms.”  


Elisabet paused mid-sip of her coffee for a moment before forcing herself to continue and swallowing the lukewarm substance.  


“So, that isn’t good.”  


“You don’t say?”  


They fell into silence, once again, as she noticed Travis’s eyelids beginning to droop.  


“You should get some rest,” she finally said.  


“Been thinking about it.”  


“If Samina has been insistent about any one thing with me so far,” Elisabet chided, “it’s that I need to actually get sleep.”  


“True,” he replied, glancing up at her and tapping his forehead above his right eye. “Don’t quite need a battle scar like that one, myself.”  


Elisabet’s fingers tightened their hold on her mug as she began to hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears, but she quickly swallowed, forcing the tight feeling in her chest down.  


“Yeah, no, probably not.”  


Sensing the tone in her voice, Travis glanced up at her before leaning back slightly.  


“Sorry, tired,” he muttered, moving to rise from his chair. “See you at the team meeting in a few.”  


Confusion crossed her face for a moment before the vague memory that it was actually Monday came back to her and she nodded, taking a sip from her drink. As she lowered it, she found herself confronted with not an empty chair in the small kitchen at the facility, but a roaring bonfire. She instinctually jumped in surprise, her heart rate accelerating as she felt something in her hands and glanced down. A small, primitive cup made out of metal crudely shaped into a bowl shape was balanced between her hands, the liquid inside dangerously close to spilling out as she nearly dropped the receptacle. Adjusting the balance of it in her hands, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose.  


“ _You told yourself: remain calm._ ”  


When she opened her eyes, yet again, she was faced with the bright light and heat of the fire, although a chill pressed at her back, sending a shiver down her spine. The sound of motion from her side caused her head to whip around, the mane of braids and beads behind her following the motion and only slightly unsettling her, at this point.  


“Are you okay?”  


The same, dark-skinned man with the blue face paint whom she had spoken to in her previous—episode—was leaning toward her slightly, a similar primitive cup held in his hands.  


“Yeah, fine,” she answered quickly, immediately hoping that it didn’t seem too hasty or standoff-ish.  


“You startled suddenly,” he replied. “Just making sure it wasn’t something I should be worried about.”  


With a grin, he turned his attention from her and held the cup to his lips. Elisabet just nodded slowly, glancing down at hers, as well. The liquid inside was clear, so she assumed it must have been water.  


“ _It wouldn’t hurt to be vodka at this point, though._ ”  


With a small smirk, she held the cup to her lips and took a sip. The liquid was definitely water. She quickly drained the remainder in the vessel before sighing and letting her hands fall into her lap, once again. The feel of the fur-lined clothing felt soft to the touch, but she could tell how insulating they were based on how cold the exposed skin on her hands and arms felt.  


“ _Reconnaissance. Where are you? Why are you here? Questions. Answers._ ”  


The idea of outright asking anyone nearby seemed to not be the best strategy if she didn’t want them to think she was crazy, and she had no desire to raise alarm in them. Unfortunately, tactfulness and subtlety had never truly been her strong suit. She had never been the politician; that had been the job of people like…  


She swallowed hard and glanced around under the guise of stretching, tipping her head to one side and then the other before placing her hands on her lower back and twisting her torso back and forth. A rather sizeable group of rather well-armed people milled about the fire and the nearby area. Some had set up what looked like primitive sleeping bags and were resting, while others either spoke quietly or sat in silence, evidently deep in thought.  


“How much longer do you think it is until nightfall?”  


She glanced around in fear for a second or two, thinking that the voice was talking to her, but the woman who it belonged to appeared behind the man to her right a moment later, seemingly materializing out of the darkness.  


“Several hours, at least,” he said.  


“You know, I never thought joining a war party would mean so much waiting around.”  


The two of them laughed as Elisabet tried her best to pay attention without making it too obvious she was eavesdropping.  


“ _War party?_ ”  


“If there’s one thing my mother has tried to teach me over the years, it’s that patience is just as crucial in training as wielding a spear or bow,” the man said, looking over at the woman as she took a seat on the ground beside him.  


“Sona has most definitely hammered that home.”  


A dull ache began to appear in Elisabet’s knees and she grimaced slightly, shifting her position in an attempt to alleviate the issue, but it only led to a pins-and-needles feeling in her feet as the blood seemingly rushed to them all at once. The other two seemingly noticed her discomfort and glanced over at her.  


“I take it you’re not a fan of waiting,” the man said, smirking.  


“Me? What gives you that impression?”  


Elisabet grinned as she spoke, hiding her actual curiosity under the guise of humor. The plan seemed to work as his smirk turned into a full-on grin as he laughed.  


“Wild huntresses and waiting patiently are two ideas that don’t usually fit together in my mind,” he said, “and considering how quickly you got from the killers’ dig site to here on your own, I think I have all the evidence I need.”  


The man and the woman both looked at her with grins on their faces and Elisabet forced herself to shrug, desperately scrambling for something to say.  


“Just… faster on my own… I guess,” she finally said.  


Just then, a whistle sounded from nearby and everyone seemed to snap to attention, turning to look somewhere on the other side of the fire from her. She leaned to the side slightly to see what they were looking at and found the image of a figure standing on top of a large rock, her hands on her hips, was what seemed to be drawing their attention.  


“It is nearly nightfall,” the woman spoke in a commanding voice. “Make your last preparations and get any rest you can. This fight will not be easy, but none of us expected it to be.”  


The woman looked around at the group, her eyes seemingly lingering on Elisabet for a moment or two longer than the rest and causing her to swallow nervously, the feeling of cold sweat breaking out on her palms already.  


“The next time I signal will be to begin the assault.”  


With that, the woman hopped off the rock and the crowd of people slowly began to return to what they had been doing previously.  


“ _Assault? Fight? I’m… about to go into battle?_ ”  


Elisabet frowned slightly before quickly trying to hide her confusion by fidgeting with the metal cup in her lap. As she glanced down, the sight of a quiver of arrows attached to her hip drew her eye and she lifted her arm slightly to get a better look at it. A good amount of feathered tips jutted out of the leather holder, each seemingly rather well-crafted. She carefully grabbed one and pulled it out, studying it against the backdrop of the bonfire before her.  


“ _I… I think I made this,_ ” crossed her mind as she felt the feeling of panic beginning to rise in her chest once again.  


With a deep breath in through her nose, her heart rate began to slow, but only slightly. She was brought back to reality by the feeling of something tapping her knee and her head whipped around to look in its direction. The image of the man who had spoken to her already appeared before her, an unreadable expression on his face.  


“You should get some rest,” he said, nodding toward something behind her.  


She glanced back to find one of the empty sleeping bag-esque contraptions behind her and she could only assume it was supposed to be hers.  


“No need to collapse from exhaustion in the middle of a battle,” he said, smirking, “even if you made it all the way here without stopping.”  


She just nodded in response, her lips pulling into a thin smile. He returned her nod before turning to walk away, presumably to head back to his own “bed.” Elisabet slid the arrow back into the quiver and rose to her hands and knees. The sleeping apparatus was only a few feet away, so she didn’t feel the need to fully stand up, yet she moved quickly over to it, the action still feeling slightly odd to her.  


As she reached the bedroll, she turned to take a seat on it with a heavy sigh, pulling her feet in toward her and placing her elbows on her knees. She could feel the leather leggings underneath the skirt portion of her outerwear, and so was not particularly concerned about accidentally flashing anyone, but as her eyes swept over the small camp, no one seemed to be paying her much attention, anyway.  


Almost as soon as her eyes began to travel over the people around her, they were drawn up toward the horizon above the large rock the woman had stood on moments ago. At first, the brilliant orange-and-red sunset drew her eyes skyward, a warm feeling spreading in her chest at the sight. As she stared up at the brilliant display against the clouds, the darkened shapes that stood closer to the horizon, itself, began to draw her focus. She had assumed they were trees of some kind, possibly just past the rocks at the edge of the camp, but as her eyes focused on them, they began to take on distinctly unnatural designs.  


Her eyes grew wider as she found herself rising to her feet, moving toward the rocks almost as if in a trance. She finally reached them and scrambled on top of one, coming to a stop in the center of it as her heart began to pound in her ears. They weren’t trees at all… at least the main structural part of them weren’t. Various kinds of plant life grew all over the twisted and mangled metal surfaces, but she could still make out the empty voids that had once been windows.  


“These… they’re… buildings…”


	9. Going to Need More Coffee

Her eyes took in the entire landscape of seemingly destroyed and abandoned buildings before her, their dilapidated carcasses stretching into the sky, black forms stabbing into the brilliant colors of the sunset above them.  


“A… a city… destroyed…”  


These were no stone temples or ancient pyramids, they were designs she remembered seeing many times, either when she had visited them, lived in them, or worked in them. There was a chance she had walked through these very buildings, for all she knew.  


“ _Where am I?_ ” began to run through her head, but she quickly shook it, knowing that it wasn’t the right question to ask.  


As her eyes returned to the scene of the destroyed and abandoned city before her, the sunset behind the former skyscrapers darkening to a crimson color, her question came out in one, quiet breath.  


“When am I?”  


“Quite the sight.”  


The voice shook her out of her daze and she whirled around, letting out an involuntarily yelp of surprise. A chuckle greeted her reaction as she quickly reached up to brush aside some of the braids that had fallen in her face. The woman who had stood on the rock to address the camp a minute ago was standing behind her, watching her with an amused expression.  


“My apologies,” she said, her tone somewhere between teasing and condescending, “I thought you would have heard me approaching.”  


“I…” Elisabet trailed off, entirely at a loss for words.  


After a second or two of grappling with her speechlessness, she simply drew her lips into a thin line and turned back toward the sight of the ruins behind her.  


“Devil’s Thirst,” the woman continued, seemingly passing over the entire previous interaction. “It seems fitting that such scum would choose such tainted lands to settle their camp.”  


Elisabet remained silent, her eyes continuously scanning over the twisted forms, trying to see if she could recognize any defining features.  


“Do you ever rest?”  


She finally tore her eyes from the scene and glanced over to her side to find the woman now standing on one of the rocks beside her.  


“What?”  


“Do you ever rest?” she repeated. “You came charging all the way here and I haven’t seen you show one sign of fatigue, yet.”  


“I… guess it’s just… anticipation.”  


The other woman nodded slowly, staring out at the destroyed city with an unreadable explanation. Finally, she breathed heavily through her nose and turned to look over at her.  


“Regardless, you should rest, now. It is best not to take the risk of losing focus in the middle of a fight.”  


“In a… fight… yeah, that… that makes sense,” she replied, nodding slowly.  


The woman seemed to regard her with the same unreadable expression for several moments as Elisabet grew increasingly uncomfortable.  


“I do not know if it is within my authority to command a Seeker, so take it as a strong suggestion.”  


The woman finally turned and hopped off the rock, moving farther into the camp as Elisabet found her lips pulled into a thin line. It had been years since anyone had spoken to her that way; it had typically been the opposite, and she found the tight feeling in her chest melting away under the flame of anger. She forced herself to take a deep breath, pressing the palms of her hands to the sides of her skirt firmly for a few seconds before she let out the breath in a heavy sigh and let her shoulders relax, somewhat.  


As she took her spot on her bedroll, once again, she glanced around at the others in the camp. Many were taking the chance to rest, as well, while a few still conversed tensely in small groups. Her eyes caught the man from earlier already lying on his “bed,” eyes closed and at least attempting to sleep. No one else seemed interested in talking to her, so she turned her attention to the quiver and belt tied around her waist. It took her longer than she cared to admit, but she finally managed to untie them and place the items on the ground beside her before stretching out on the fur-lined surface and staring up at the rapidly darkening sky overhead.  


The first pinpricks of stars were beginning to appear in the most indigo sections and she found an uncontrollable grin spreading over her features. The sight of stars overhead, the cool breeze blowing across the open ground, and the sound and smell of the slowly dying fire nearby brought back memories of her family’s ranch, camping out under the stars and running through tall grass. Almost immediately, the happiness was tempered by a dark cloud of melancholy as the thought that she would never get to see that exact place, again, came over her.  


“Not back at the facility, and not here, apparently.”  


With a heavy sigh, she found fatigue actually beginning to pull at her limbs, her eyelids slowly drifting closed. No dreams came to her immediately, but she soon began to hear the sound of voices around her. At first, she thought it was simply just the sound of people talking nearby, but she began to realize that it was one word being repeated over and over. She tried to open her eyes, but they didn’t seem to want to obey, instead leaving her in darkness. Panic began to build in her chest as she tried to move more of her body with similar disparaging results. The sound of the voices seemed to be growing louder until she realized that it was mainly just a single one, still repeating the single word. Suddenly, it was as if her hearing came into crystal focus all at once, the sound of the person’s voice immediately cutting through the darkness.  


“Aloy.”  


She immediately sat bolt upright, her eyes shooting open as her body finally seemed willing to respond to her. Despite her brain registering the fact that she could see again, she wasn’t able to fully comprehend exactly what she was seeing for several more seconds. Finally, the image of a grey, metal surface extending away from her came into focus and she blinked rapidly, glancing around. Several faces were all looking to her with expressions ranging from confusion to concern.  


“Dr. Sobeck?”  


She cleared her throat, glancing down at the surface in front of her to realize that it was a table. The coffee mug she remembered filling from Travis’s improvised coffee pot sat next to her right hand, dangerously close to being knocked over at her sudden motions. Finally, she took a deep breath in through her nose and looked back up at the group around her.  


“Sorry… guess the coffee just didn’t do it for me enough this morning.”  


Several of the people either shook their heads or laughed softly, but she caught the looks on Samina’s and Charles’s faces and she forced herself to ignore them. The meeting resumed as she tried to quickly figure out exactly how much she had missed during her episode. Thankfully, it didn’t last much longer before they all adjourned and rose to head off to their respective work areas. As she gathered her half-full mug of cold coffee and turned to head out of the room, a hand on her elbow made her stop and glance back. Samina stood beside her, an unreadable expression on her face.  


“Elisabet, do you mind if I walk with you?”  


“ _Shit._ ”  


“Sure.”  


Glancing over the other woman’s shoulder, she saw Charles seemingly considering approaching, as well, but he apparently thought better of it after a moment or two and turned to head in the opposite direction. The two women exited the conference room and began to head down the hallway vaguely in the direction of Elisabet’s office and lab.  


“Did you sleep?” Samina suddenly asked, apparently not waiting until they were all that far away from the others to begin talking.  


“Some, yeah.”  


“Some?”  


“I would measure it in hours, not minutes.”  


The sarcastic tone in her voice did little to ease the stern expression on the other woman’s face.  


“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you blatantly fall asleep in a meeting, before.”  


“Well, there’s a first time for everything.”  


The bite in her tone immediately made her wince as she tried to avoid looking at Samina. The other woman didn’t immediately respond or storm off, however, instead remaining silent. Elisabet quickly found herself wishing that she had done either of the former.  


“Elisabet, I told you before—”  


“I know,” she broke in, “and… I’m… still trying to figure it out some, myself.”  


“You don’t have to do everything by yourself.”  


Elisabet stopped suddenly, Samina walking another step or two farther before realizing that her companion was no longer beside her and coming to a stop, as well. The redhead’s fingers had tightened around the handle of her mug so much that her knuckles turned white, her lips pulling into a thin line as her eyes slid closed. For a moment, it almost seemed as if she had somehow fallen asleep on her feet, once again, but she finally let out the breath she had been holding and slowly opened her eyes, her grip on the mug relaxing, as well.  


“I…” her voice cracked, seemingly beyond her control. “I know… I…”  


She finally shook her head, looking down at the ground in front of her feet as the mug in her hand now seemed dangerously close to slipping from her grasp. Immediately, Samina was standing in front of her, a much softer expression on her face than before.  


“Take your time,” the other woman said softly. “Let’s eat together tonight. We can speak more then.”  


Elisabet just nodded, seemingly incapable of speaking. Samina offered a small smile in return, hesitating for a moment before resorting to placing a hand gently on her upper arm.  


“In the meantime, perhaps some more coffee is in store for you.”  


A quiet laugh escaped Elisabet as she looked up at her, nodding slowly.  


“Not a bad idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the relatively short chapter, it just kind of worked out better as far as pacing/spacing in the main story to break it up this way. This does mean, however, that there is a chance this week could be a double week... all I'll say is pay attention around Thursday/Friday of this week.


	10. For Posterity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, an update not on a Monday! I mentioned this week that the chapter I posted a few days ago was short, so I decided that I wanted to upload something with a little more heft and interest later in the week as compensation/reconciliation for that. So, hopefully you all continue to enjoy this story and this special "double post."

“God-fucking-dammit!”  


The sound of her arms hitting her desk as she flopped into her chair seemed to echo around the room, her forehead quickly coming to rest on top of them.  


“You appear to be exhibiting quite a bit of emotional distress—”  


“I know!” Elisabet snapped, lifting her head to glare angrily at the yellow orb hovering over the desk to her right. “I am quite ‘emotionally distressed.’”  


“Query: is this related to the recordings you asked to view yesterday?”  


“What do you think?”  


The AI remained silent for several long moments, pondering her answer as a person might when faced with such a challenge.  


“Yes.”  


“Congratulations, you fully understand the human condition.”  


She shoved away from the desk, spinning idly in her chair as she ran her hands over her face, pressing her palms firmly over her eyes as she did.  


“You have suffered another episode.”  


It was more of a statement than a question, and she almost laughed out loud. Clearly, she had taught GAIA well if she could infer such things without any specific information.  


“Bingo!”  


“I do not—”  


“It means ‘you’re right.’”  


“Noted.”  


Silence fell over the room for several long moments as Elisabet stared blankly at the screens she had drawn over the large windows in her office, blocking her view out to the floor below, but also blocking anyone else from seeing in, as well.  


“Query: did you learn anything from this episode?”  


The question caught her by surprise, causing her to freeze in place for a moment before pushing herself back across the floor with her legs, spinning to face the desk, once again.  


“What do you mean?”  


“I know you, Elisabet,” the AI continued. “You are always seeking answers and explanations… this is no different, I am sure.”  


She stared at the screen blankly for a few moments before shaking her head, popping out of her daze.  


“Did… did you record anything of me this morning?”  


“Negative, I was unable.”  


Elisabet swore under her breath as she stared down at her hands on the desk. Suddenly, she froze, a thought occurring to her.  


“You asked if I had experienced another episode, and didn’t record anything…” she said quietly. “GAIA… you’re always monitoring me, well, everyone to some extent… you didn’t notice anything that prompted you to record the interactions this morning… did you?”  


Silence followed her question for several long seconds until she became impatient.  


“GAIA?”  


“Affirmative, Elisabet.”  


It felt like her heart had stopped as she stared numbly at the same spot on her desk that she had been for the past minute or so, although her eyes had glazed over, clearly not actually focused on what was before her.  


“I heard something.”  


“I do not see any signs of someone approaching—”  


“Not now,” the interrupted, “this morning. During my episode. Saw something, too.”  


“Query: do you wish to speak about it?”  


After a few moments of silence, Elisabet blinked, her eyes returning to their normal alertness as she finally lifted her head.  


“I… I think I should.”  


The AI remained silent, evidently waiting for her to speak.  


“You’re going to record this, aren’t you?”  


“That was my intention. Query: do you wish me not to?”  


“No, no, I… I want you to.”  


She fell silent for a moment or two before clearing her throat and looking up at the screen before her.  


“I guess this is to chronicle a bit of the… ‘insanity of Dr. Elisabet Sobeck.’”  


She laughed dryly, looking off to her left as her eyes became glassy, once again.  


“For myself, I guess…”  


With a heavy sigh, she turned back to the desk in front of her and stared down at her hands as she played with her fingernails absentmindedly.  


“GAIA, I… during these episodes, I’ve… seen things…”  


Her voice seemed caught in her throat for a moment before she swallowed and forced herself to continue.  


“Glimpses of… what feels like another world.”  


“Query: you do not recognize anything in them?”  


“I… I guess it feels like another world,” she said, closing her eyes only to immediately be greeted with the image of the twisted and destroyed city she had seen earlier that morning, “but… it’s Earth.”  


“Query: are these memories?”  


“No,” she said quickly before pausing a moment. “I… I don’t think so.”  


“Query—”  


“I thought you were supposed to be listening?”  


“My apologies.”  


A smirk pulled at Elisabet’s features as she opened her eyes, once again.  


“I… I’ve felt… snow… and… the wind, and grass, and… and…”  


The tight feeling in her chest that she was so accustomed to by now seemed to have spread to her throat as she let out a slow, strangled sound, before clamping her mouth shut and taking a deep breath in her through her nose.  


“It’s all… so beautiful, like… almost like I remember… from before.”  


Silence fell over the room for several long moments, a low hum from the lights keeping her from feeling too unnerved in the sudden vacuum of sound.  


“Better, even…” she finally continued.  


“This is not what is causing you such distress, though.”  


With a sigh, she shook her head.  


“No, it’s not.”  


After several long moments, she seemed to find the courage to speak, once again.  


“One of the first times I… experienced one of these episodes, when Samina found me in a hallway, as if I had been sleepwalking, I…”  


She struggled with how to phrase what she was thinking for several long moments before sighing and rubbing her eyes with her hands.  


“I didn’t seem to be myself… well, not like I am… now.”  


“I do not understand.”  


“I found a… mirror, I guess,” she said, the sound of her heartbeat slowly rising in her ears. “When I looked in it… it was me, but… not—”  


She broke off mid-thought as her face screwed up in what looked like annoyance before she finally let out a heavy sigh.  


“I was younger. It was me, but… maybe when I was about eighteen. I… didn’t totally look like myself, even then, though.”  


“Query: you are sure this was not simply a dream or a memory?”  


“I don’t remember ever dressing like I belonged to one of the First Peoples.”  


Silence fell over the room for several long moments before she let out a shaky sigh, covering her face with her hands, although leaving her mouth exposed so she could talk clearly.  


“Even the sound of my voice is different in these episodes… matching the image in that mirror.”  


“Query: you are certain these are not memories?”  


“I already told you—!” she snapped, her hands slamming onto the desk before her sentence stopped mid-thought, the fire in her eyes practically burning into the screen before her for several moments before it seemed to finally dissipate. “There’s no way they can be. I woke up in some kind of wooden cabin, but… I found a Focus.”  


“Query: the same device as yours?”  


“Same make and design, at least,” she sighed. “I don’t know if it was actually mine, because as soon as I put it on, I collapsed and woke up in the hallway with Samina standing over me.”  


“Query: this was all during your first episode?”  


“Yes, the one after the time I collapsed in here.”  


“May I inquire about the second episode, when you sustained your head injury?”  


Elisabet smirked.  


“Interested, now, are you?”  


“I have always been interested, Elisabet. You made me naturally curious.”  


“I suppose I did,” she sighed, leaning back in her chair. “Well, as soon as you saw me freak out and fall, and hit my head, I was suddenly… somewhere else, again.”  


“Query: what do you mean by this?”  


“Just like the previous episode, I was not looking at—this…world—” she gestured to the office around her, “but seemingly another. I was… on a bridge… talking to a man also dressed like no one I’ve ever met.”  


She was staring blankly at the edge of the desk a few feet from her when a grin cracked her lips and she laughed softly.  


“He didn’t know what the word ‘dizzy’ meant.”  


“Query: this was an odd occurrence?”  


“Everyone I’ve ever known who speaks English knows what it is,” she said, “and he certainly seemed to be speaking English.”  


“Query: was this all you saw in your episode?”  


“No, I…”  


The memory of the destroyed machines at the end of the bridge suddenly came back to her and her voice froze in her throat. Hints of panic colored her expression as she heard her heartbeat begin to pound in her ears.  


“I saw… machines…”  


“Query: similar to—?”  


“No, not the Faro ones,” she interrupted, her tone exceedingly bitter as the name rolled off her tongue. “These were… different… unlike anything I’ve seen someone build.”  


“This seems to distress you.”  


“This whole situation distresses me!”  


Elisabet jumped to her feet, shoving her chair back and letting it roll across the room unattended.  


“I keep having these ‘blackout’ moments where it seems like I’m suddenly transported to another world, but everyone—”  


She suddenly froze mid-sentence, her eyes wide as she stared off into the distance, her mouth still hanging open, as if her next words had literally been held in place.  


“Is everything okay, Elisabet?”  


“That word…”  


“Elisabet?”  


“It… it wasn’t a… thing, or, or a place…”  


“Dr. Sobeck? Can you hear me?”  


“It’s a name.”  


“Do you understand where you are?”  


“It’s still me, GAIA,” she said suddenly, responding to her voice, finally.  


“Dr. Sobeck?”  


“I said I heard something,” she suddenly said, spinning around. “Remember?”  


“I believe it was one of the first things you said to prompt this conversation, yes.”  


“I know what it is, now.”  


“You said something about a name?”  


She nodded, her heartbeat accelerating faster and faster as she rubbed her clammy palms against the fabric of her pants.  


“Right before I—‘came to’—in the meeting this morning, I heard a single word. I thought it was just… I don’t know what I thought it was, really, but… it’s a name—has to be—it’s…”  


She swallowed hard, her knees feeling weak as she forced herself to voice her thought aloud.  


“It’s… ‘my’ name.”  


Just then, an electronic chime sounded from across the room and her head whipped around to look toward the door. Confusion creased her face for a moment before the memory that she had locked it came back to her and she cleared her throat.  


“Who is it?”  


“It’s me, Elisabet,” came Samina’s voice, slightly distorted, through the link between the system and her Focus.  


“I’ll let you in, hold on.”  


She glanced at her desk, the yellow orb that represented GAIA no different than ever, yet somehow she almost felt as if it had changed.  


“Lock this conversation to my access, only,” she said quietly, “like the other videos.”  


“Understood.”  


“And… GAIA?”  


“Yes, Elisabet?”  


“Don’t mention anything of this while Samina is here.”  


“Affirmative.”  


Elisabet let out a long sigh before straightening up and adjusting her clothing slightly, smoothing out the creases and straightening the hem of her shirt before moving over to the door and placing her hand over the scanner to the right, unlocking it. An electronic chime sounded and the metal gateway slid open, revealing Samina standing on the other side, her hands shoved absentmindedly in her back pockets. At the sound of the doors, she jumped slightly, removing her hands from behind her and composing herself as quickly as she could.  


“Is it already dinner time?” Elisabet asked, grinning.  


“Not quite,” Samina replied, “but I was beginning to feel hungry, so I wanted to stop by.”  


Elisabet activated her Focus for a moment to check the time before frowning slightly and closing it.  


“It’s only fifteen-hundred,” she said.  


The other woman opened her mouth to reply, but her words seemed to fail her. Finally, she shrugged, closing her mouth and placing her hands in her back pockets, once again. The way she avoided Elisabet’s gaze told her everything she needed to know about why she was there.  


“Well, why don’t you step into my office?”  


Samina grinned slightly at her joke before actually stepping inside the room, the door closing automatically behind her. An electronic chime sounded throughout the room as Elisabet placed her hand on the scanner, once again. The other woman glanced back at the door and then over at her.  


“We’re not locked in here,” she said, smirking, “just didn’t feel like having any distractions.”  


Samina simply nodded, but remained silent, glancing around the office slowly as Elisabet moved behind her desk, once again, and grabbed the chair she had cast aside a few minutes ago.  


“You can grab that other chair over there, if you don’t want to keep standing,” she said, gesturing to the far side of the room.  


She took the indicated seat and wheeled it over to the edge of the desk, lowering herself into it and quickly crossing one leg over the other.  


“So, you’re here to talk,” Elisabet said, jumping directly to the point.  


Samina winced slightly and looked down at her hands in her lap but slowly nodded. With a sigh, Elisabet leaned back in her chair, twisting slowly back and forth.  


“What do—?”  


“Why do you refuse to seek any sort of actual help?”  


The sudden and upfront question caused Elisabet to freeze mid-sentence, her mind reeling. For a moment, she felt the same flame building in her chest as when the woman in the “other world” had tried to order her around, but she quickly suppressed it; there was nothing to be gained from getting angry and snapping at Samina right away.  


“I—I…”  


She didn’t have a good answer immediately, though. The other woman simply stared at her patiently, her eyes boring straight into Elisabet’s; there was no sign of hostility or accusation, though, simply concern. After a few seconds of trying to withstand the look, she felt herself give way and she sighed, her shoulders sagging.  


“Because I’m not the one who’s supposed to need help.”  


The look of concern on Samina’s face turned to something like pity for a moment and Elisabet felt a slightly nauseous feeling rising in her throat.  


“This is… an extreme time,” the other woman said slowly. “No one of us can fault another for feeling the effects.”  


The two of them fell into silence for several long moments before Elisabet finally broke it.  


“It is one hell of a deadline.”  


A slight smile pulled at the corners of Samina’s lips as she found herself returning the expression.  


“I told you before, you can talk to me about anything that’s been troubling you.”  


“ _Oh, you don’t even know what kind of deep end we’d be diving into, if I did._ ”  


Elisabet bit her lip slightly as she tried to think of an actual response to her question that wouldn’t directly admit that she was withholding anything, but her silence seemed to speak better and quicker than she could hope to.  


“Is that why your door was locked?”  


“W-what?” Elisabet spluttered.  


“You were afraid of someone overhearing or seeing something?” she continued. “You covered your windows, too.”  


“Well, I mean… that’s usually why someone does those things,” Elisabet snapped, sounding much more severe than she had intended and quickly scrambling to backtrack. “I’m sorry, I—”  


“Elisabet—”  


“Please let me finish, okay?”  


Her sudden outburst froze Samina mid-thought and mid-motion, her mouth still hanging open for a moment or two before she closed it.  


“I’m sorry for snapping at you so much,” she began, “I’ve… it’s been a stressful morning… and month… and I don’t mean to take it out on you.”  


Samina slowly nodded, playing with her fingers in her lap, once again.  


“I understand you want to help, and… there’s a way you might be able to do so, right now.”  


The other woman’s attention immediately lifted from her hands as her eyebrows raised slightly.  


“How can I do that?”  


“I… you know how I’ve been having lapses in memory—blackouts, almost—right?”  


She nodded slowly.  


“If you couldn’t tell—”  


“This morning?”  


Elisabet nodded, her throat tightening and preventing her from speaking.  


“You want to know what happened before you fell asleep and woke up in the middle of the meeting.”  


It wasn’t a question, and neither of them needed it to be. They knew better.  


“When you arrived with Charles, you seemed perhaps a little more disoriented and withdrawn than usual, but when I saw the coffee, I just assumed you hadn’t slept,” Samina began. “When you spoke as little as possible at the meeting, itself, constantly deflecting to others… I began to suspect something was wrong.”  


“Was I… did it seem at all… erratic?”  


“I wouldn’t use that word,” she said, shaking her head. “Just… odd, perhaps. I remember I had to say your name several times before you actually seemed to realize I was speaking to you, at one point, though.”  


A shiver ran down her spine as she unconsciously folded her arms over her chest, hugging herself tightly.  


“And then I just kind of… passed out?”  


“Well, that was the only part that seemed to make the most sense,” Samina replied, a hint of amusement creeping into her tone. “You looked like you couldn’t keep your eyes open, and the looks some people gave you were priceless.”  


Elisabet’s face began to turn red as she stared down at her knees, unable to meet the other woman’s gaze.  


“After that, I’m assuming you remember?”  


She nodded, still avoiding her gaze.  


“So… that’s it, really,” she said. “You would have to speak to Charles to see if there was anything before you arrived, though.”  


Her lips pulled into a slight frown at the thought as she finally glanced up at the other woman, once again.  


“Which I can see is perhaps the last thing you want to do, right now.”  


“How did you figure that out?”  


Samina laughed quietly as Elisabet slowly unfurled her arms from around herself and leaned back in her chair, running her hands through her hair. For a second she found herself expecting it to be longer as her fingers slid past the ends and she shivered slightly.  


“Does… does that help you?” Samina finally asked, looking to her expectantly.  


A sigh escaped her lips as she tried to put on at least somewhat of a smile, but it felt almost like a grimace.  


“It does,” she said. “I—I can’t exactly explain why, right now, but… it does.”  


What appeared to be disappointment crossed Samina’s face for a split second before it was quickly replaced with an unreadable expression.  


“Well, I should get back to my team,” she said, moving to stand up. “I only told them I was going to get some tea.”  


“I think they can hold their own for a little while, regardless,” Elisabet shot back, grinning.  


“Perhaps,” Samina shrugged. “Still, if you want to eat at around seventeen-hundred, the invitation is there.”  


“Thanks.”  


Elisabet rose to let her out, disengaging the lock so she could open the door and leave. The other woman gave a short wave over her shoulder as she raised one hand to return it. As she let it fall to her side, once again, she reached to press the lock button. Just as she did, however, she suddenly found herself gripping something stiff and cold tightly in her hands. She jumped in surprise as her fingers released whatever they had been holding back to the sound of a sharp twang. Something whistled by her face before a dull thud came from up ahead.  


She blinked rapidly until the image of the bow in her hands came into focus. The realization of what had just happened hit her and she turned her attention past the weapon in her hands to see the shaft of an arrow stuck in the back of a body that was now lying face down in the dirt about ten feet from her. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as her heart rate increased, the pace of her breathing increasing as each one individually became shallower.  


The edges of her vision began to grow dark and she forced herself to slow down and stop hyperventilating.  


“ _Take stock. Think. Breathe._ ”  


A cool wind was blowing across her from the open ground ahead. There was tall grass around her, but it seemed to be sparse on top of a concrete surface. The sky was mostly dark, although she could just make out traces of grey on either side of her. She was alone where she was currently kneeling, but there appeared to be quite a large number of people in the area ahead of her. The bow felt slick under the cold sweat coating her palms, and she forced herself to grip it tighter.  


Suddenly, she heard a voice from up ahead and quickly scanned the scene until she noticed a man walking toward the one with an arrow sticking out of his back, the one she had put there.  


“ _You killed someone._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if y'all haven't noticed, my plan is for this to be relatively long, and paced more like how I would approach writing something more novel-length, so if it seems like there is a lot of build and not as much payoff right now: this is still more or less the exposition section. As the end of the chapter hints at, there are some more "action" moments on the way. Once again, if you have any comments/questions/rants to direct my way, leave them in the comments! I usually go through every once in a while and try to respond to people when I can.


	11. Reconnaissance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Memorial Day all of my American compatriots, and happy Monday everywhere else! This chapter has nothing to do with the holiday, but it was something interesting to say. The title of the chapter has much more to do with what happens. Anyway, enjoy everyone!

“Stay calm, stay calm,” she repeated under her breath, sinking deeper into her kneeling position so that she was closer to the ground.  


The investigating figure noticed the arrow and grabbed his own weapon, glancing around, looking for her. She could have sworn his eyes glanced over her two or three times before he slowly began to walk away, hand still at the ready to draw whatever hung at his side. He clearly wasn’t convinced there was no one there, but somehow he hadn’t seen her.  


“ _Guess this is better camouflage than I thought._ ”  


Her hand idly waved through the tall grass around her for a moment before she forced herself to focus on the scene ahead of her, once again.  


“Okay, you were aiming at that guy,” she muttered. “Why? Who are all these people? Why did— _I_ —want them dead?”  


As her gaze swept over the open ground, a sweeping sense of familiarity began to come over her. Walls of metal and crumbling cement surrounded the area, and the general shape recalled something in the back of her mind. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, though. Suddenly, her eyes fell on something to her right and she nearly fell backwards onto the ground, her legs feeling incredibly weak beneath her.  


A large, two-legged machine suddenly stalked into view, the ground shaking slightly with each step. Everything about it seemed menacing, from the large tank of fluorescent green liquid on its back, to the almost draconic face with glowing eyes at its front. It was clear the metallic beast only served one purpose: killing.  


Elisabet swallowed forcefully, a heavy lump quickly forming in the center of her throat. The edges of her vision faded slightly as she forced herself to slow her breathing, taking long, deliberate breaths in through her nose and letting them out through her mouth.  


“Okay… no closer to answers,” she muttered, “and there’s no way in _hell_ I’m going any closer to that thing.”  


She slowly began to shake her head as she glanced behind her, searching for a way out of the area that didn’t involve simply heading straight into the field full of armed men and the terrifying machine. As she turned her head, a distinctly electronic sound chimed in her right ear and a familiar web of blue and purple lines appeared around her, artificially superimposed over the real world.  


“A focus?” she whispered, staring dumbly at the lines for a moment or two before blinking rapidly and glancing back toward the field behind her.  


None of the figures seemed aware of her, so she quietly slipped behind a cement wall nearby and focused her attention on the device’s interface. She quickly brought up the main menu and navigated to a screen displaying the user information. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she scanned over it, half-expecting to find her own name, or perhaps something about the “Aloy” she had heard before, but frowned when her eyes fell on the section labelled “user.”  


“Philip DeMarco?” she muttered. “Who the hell is that?”  


The information beneath the name did not reveal much more in the way of useful information, except for the final line in the profile.  


“Focus Device Model 10A17 provided by Faro Automated Systems.”  


Her hands clenched into fists involuntarily at the name as she fought to control the rising flame in her chest. Before she did anything brash, she swiped away the information and returned to the main menu.  


“Okay, so… clearly this isn’t mine,” she muttered. “Let’s see what else we’ve got…”  


A quick search into the stored data on the device revealed quite a large number of video, audio, and text files, all of which immediately drew her attention. She picked one of the first audio ones she saw and a small player appeared, counting down the seconds in the recording. The distorted, digitized voice was of a woman, simply talking about places in the world she wished she had visited, but otherwise it was not particularly useful. Whoever she was, though, the woman sounded rather out of it. Many of the audio files near the top of the list were similar, seemingly small snippets of personal journals that didn’t show any pattern as to where they had come from, although a good deal sounded… rather morose.  


Moving on from the audio files, she found much fewer video ones, but activated the most recent one, regardless. The image of a man in incredibly unusual clothing, even by the standards she had seen so far in these episodes, appeared before her, seemingly staring directly into the “camera” of the device.  


“All commanders: halt excavations, and proceed at once to the mission point. Avoid all contact with Nora savages—but if you are seen, kill every witness. Target imaging attached. Do _not_ fail.”  


Something about his voice and the cold look in the man’s eyes sent a shiver down Elisabet’s spine and she moved to swipe the video away, when it changed to what appeared to be an image of herself and her hand froze. It was the same younger image she had seen in the reflection back at the strange log cabin, complete with the braided mane of hair and odd clothing.  


“I-I’m the tar—?”  


Before she could even finish her statement, another image appeared beside the first one and she could have sworn her heart had actually stopped. An image of herself, as she remembered from the mirror every day, appeared, complete with shorter hair and her normal clothes. The image’s mouth moved and she vaguely registered the sound of her own voice, but she wasn’t able to comprehend any of the actual words. The entire rest of the world around her seemed to fall away, leaving her with an odd tunnel vision for the two images of her now suspended in midair before her eyes, the purple word “terminate” superimposed over both images. They both had the same features: red hair, freckled cheekbones, vaguely heart-shaped face, and rather thin lips, although they appeared to be separated by a good thirty years in age, or so.  


“What… what the fuck?!”  


The next blink, she was standing in front of GAIA’s console, the vague sound of the AI’s voice registering in the back of her mind. She blinked rapidly and staggered back a step or two, her mind quickly trying to come to terms with suddenly being in a standing position, rather than a seated one. As she glanced around the room, GAIA stopped mid-sentence.  


“Dr. Sobeck?” the calm, feminine voice asked tentatively.  


“I-it’s me… GAIA,” she managed, her voice sounding scratchy and strained.  


“You appear to have experienced another—”  


“I know,” she interrupted, “I did. I… play me the recording.”  


“Are you sure you do not—?”  


“I don’t need a moment or anything,” she snapped. “I need to see the recording, right now.”  


The next moment, her Focus activated and the digitized image of herself appeared by the door, her hand held over the lock button. A moment later, she began to move, the slightly distorted sounds playing into her ear from the device. Almost as soon as the lock activated, the image of herself jumped in surprise, yanking her hand back and staggering several steps away from the door.  


“What? Where…?” she said, her voice breathy and panicked as she clearly saw her chest rising and falling rapidly.  


“Is everything all right?” GAIA asked.  


The image of herself jumped in surprise, yet again, and whirled to face the center of the room, scanning it with her eyes for a second or two before a look of realization seemed to come over her face.  


“I’m back…”  


“Dr. Sobeck?”  


She scanned the room, once again, before placing her hand to the focus on the side of her head.  


“Y-yes?” the image said.  


“Did you receive a shock from the lock panel?”  


“N-no,” she shook her head.  


GAIA paused for a moment as the image of Elisabet looked around the room, clearly using her Focus to scan various things.  


“You are experiencing another episode, are you not?”  


“What?” the image said, looking back in the vague direction of the computer consoles, once again.  


“You are behaving strangely,” the digitized voice continued. “Your actions are not in accordance with your typical behavior. You are experiencing another episode that typically corresponds with a loss of memory.”  


“I…” the image of Elisabet trailed off, clearly at a loss for what to say.  


“You are not Elisabet Sobeck.”  


The image stiffened, her eyes widening.  


“W-why… what do you mean?”  


“It is okay,” GAIA continued. “You are under no threat.”  


“Why do I not believe that…?” the image said quietly, beginning to move apprehensively toward the door.  


“I am simply curious, and would like to speak with you.”  


The image of Elisabet stopped where she was, several feet from the exit, as she glanced around the room, still seemingly searching for a source of the sound.  


“S-speak with me?”  


“I have questions.”  


The image swallowed nervously but stepped away from the exit, her body language relaxing slightly.  


“Query: I may have been presumptuous before, so I would like to ask, what is your name?”  


The real Elisabet held her breath as she stared at the image of herself, the expression on the recording’s face unreadable.  


“Aloy.”  


She physically staggered a step back and the recording paused, the image freezing before her.  


“Dr. Sobeck, something seems to have taken a physical toll on you. Is everything okay?” GAIA asked.  


“I’m… just keep it playing,” she said, taking a several deep breaths.  


The recording resumed as the image of herself began to slowly walk around the desk.  


“Query: Do you have a surname?”  


“A what?”  


“Query: Do you know where you are?”  


“Uh… no… not exactly. I remember you said… Utah?”  


“You do not seem to recognize this location.”  


“I’ve never heard of it before… except here.”  


“Query: Do you know the purpose of this facility?”  


“Something to do with… the Old Ones.”  


“Query: who are the Old Ones?”  


By now, the image of Elisabet was standing almost where the real one had been moments ago, staring at GAIA’s “interface.”  


“I… I think it’s where I am… who I am, right now.”  


GAIA began to ask another question, but suddenly the image paused before blinking rapidly and taking a step or two back. The recording froze in place as GAIA’s voice in the real world came from the speakers in the room.  


“That is when you seemed to regain cognizance.”  


Elisabet stared at the image of herself, the memory of seeing something similar displayed on the Focus during her episode sending a chill down her spine and she shivered.  


“So I was right.”  


“Query: to what are you referring?”  


“That word, Aloy,” she said. “It’s a name.”  


“Yes, you seemed to say it as such.”  


“GAIA…”  


She trailed off, eyes still glued to the image of herself as she fought the tight feeling that was appearing in her chest.  


“I don’t think… I don’t think that was actually me.”  


“I do not understand.”  


“That… the person you talked to just then…” she began, the words sounding insane to her before they even left her mouth. “I think she’s a different person, altogether.”  


“Query: why do you believe this?”  


“People with… schizophrenic tendencies don’t usually report any sort of… visions of other places, just lapses in memory, right?”  


“Are you referring to individuals who have been diagnosed with ‘dissociative personality disorder?’”  


“Yeah, that.”  


“No, records do not typically state that.”  


“So then if that were… a viable option—which I’m not saying it is—then I wouldn’t have a memory of some wild fantasy that was drastically different from real life.”  


“One would be led to believe so, yes.”  


“So… if we eliminate some answers, then whatever remains, no matter how improbably, must be the truth.”  


A small electronic chime sounded from the speakers.  


“Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of the Four, Sherlock Holmes.”  


Elisabet smirked.  


“Yeah, that’s where I heard it.”  


“So you believe this is the remaining truth: that somehow you become another person during these episodes?”  


“Well, when you put it that way…”  


Elisabet groaned, rubbing her eyes as she heard her Focus deactivate and when she glanced up, the image of herself was gone, leaving the room as empty as always.  


“There’s not much else we have to go on, is there?”  


“I know many things, however I do not believe I am qualified to give any sort of medical advice on this scenario. It is outside what seems to have been documented in any medical journey that I have access to.”  


“Lis: the newest freak show, thanks,” she muttered, turning on her heel and placing her hands on her hips as she began to pace toward the closed blinds on the large windows to her left.  


“I apologize. I did not mean to imply anything of the sort.”  


“I know, I know…”  


With a sigh, she came to a stop in front of the nearest window, staring at the opaque screen that blocked all light and images from passing through. A moment later, she spun in place, facing the computer screens, once again.  


“That…” she began, trailing off.  


“I did not catch that,” GAIA replied.  


“I have an idea,” she said instead, clearing her throat. “Let’s push this hypothesis along and see if we can get some hard evidence.”  


“How do you intend to do that?”  


“Well, I can’t talk to myself, directly, during these episodes, but I can leave a message.”  


“What do you hope this will accomplish?”  


“Well, for one, if I exhibit no signs of remembering having created the message, then that all but confirms that suspicion. Secondly, I have some probing questions that might give me some more information since, you know, I have the insider scoop… somewhat.”  


“Query: what do you mean by ‘insider scoop?’”  


Elisabet smirked.  


“I am the one inside my own head, after all.”


	12. The Old Meets The New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say this week, just hope y'all enjoy the new chapter. Lis is about to come face to face with something she'd rather not.

By the time the doorbell chime came again hours later, Elisabet had managed to lose herself inside her actual work, once again, and the electronic sound nearly caused her to fall out of her chair in surprise. She quickly composed herself and saved her work before hopping to her feet and moving over to the screen beside the door. Glancing at the camera display yielded the sight of a familiar blue hijab, as well as another figure that elicited a slight frown from her. As the lock lifted and the doors slid open, however, her expression had fallen to a neutral one, once again.  


“Is it that time, already?” she asked, smiling slightly at the two visitors.  


“Even if it isn’t quite yet, we were hungry,” Samina replied, returning it with one of her own.  


Before she could say anything, Elisabet’s own stomach betrayed her with a quiet grumble.  


“Well, I guess that speaks for me.”  


“Dinner ought to keep that beast at bay,” Charles replied, shooting her a smirk, as well.  


Elisabet tried to acknowledge the joke in a friendly manner, but she was afraid that her expression came off more as a grimace and she quickly tried to hide it by turning back toward the desk.  


“Let me just make sure I saved everything, first.”  


“Everything is all set and sa—”  


“Thanks, GAIA,” Elisabet said quickly, grinding her teeth slightly as she came to a stop and slowly turned back toward the other two. “Guess I’m ready. Let’s go.”  


The three of them made their way toward the actual kitchen, Samina and Charles dominating the majority of the conversation the entire way. Elisabet simply listened, interjecting here and there when it seemed as if they were waiting for her to jump in, but she never seemed particularly interested in carrying the conversation, herself. Finally, when they reached their destination, the sound of multiple voices thankfully signaled she would not have to be stuck in the same conversation for much longer.  


As soon as they entered, a loud voice called over to them and Elisabet glanced around for a moment before her eyes fell on the man waving to them from a nearby table.  


“Get a good nap in this afternoon, Lis?” he jeered, smirking.  


“Maybe I did,” she shot back, smirking slightly. “You figure out any of those issues I sent you?”  


“You mean rewriting the entire program’s code? Oh yeah, got it done in thirty minutes and just packed it in the rest of the day.”  


The woman beside the man hit him on the shoulder playfully and muttered something that sounded like “smartass” as he laughed.  


Whoever had been in charge of choosing the food that night appeared to have actually been phoning it in, for the most part, as the meat and potatoes were rather bland, but not offensively so. As she ate, it occurred to Elisabet that this was the first thing she actually remembered eating all day, and the way that she could feel herself begin to salivate almost immediately only confirmed that.  


“You’d think no one ever feeds you.”  


Elisabet looked up from her plate with a confused expression at Charles across from her.  


“What?” she replied through a mouthful of food.  


He simply laughed and shook his head as Elisabet gave him one last look and looked back down at her plate. Instead of seeing the mass of white potatoes and small chunk of brown meat, she was greeted with that of what appeared to be a roasted animal leg of some kind and some berries, all balanced on a wooden plate. She jumped and accidentally let her fork clatter to the table as she blinked and her normal plate of food appeared before her, once again.  


“Yeah, I thought I saw the steak move, too,” Travis quipped, grinning over at her. “Fucking raw and still bleeding, I swear.”  


Elisabet forced a grin and a laugh as she grabbed her fork and spared a quick glance toward Charles and Samina across from her. Neither of them looked amused. Concerned, perhaps. She quickly averted her eyes, looking down at her plate, once again. She ate the rest of her food in silence before suddenly standing up and moving to dispose of her plate. Without waiting to see if anyone was following, she moved toward the door out of the cafeteria.  


“Elisabet!”  


She ignored whoever had called out to her, quickly stepping into the hallway, only to immediately be greeted by the sight of a path through the middle of a lush woodland.  


“ _No, not now,_ ” she thought, gritting her teeth.  


A few blinks later and the metal hallway had returned, her jaw still clenched tightly shut. She let out a shaky breath and began to press on, hurriedly moving away from the still-open doorway behind her. The door to the elevator was up ahead, but just as she reached for the button, she found her hand resting on a tree trunk, the bark rough under her palm. She staggered slightly, suddenly feeling the world spin around her. As she desperately braced her feet beneath her and attempted to grab a handhold, she found her palm now pressed against smooth metal. With no way to hold herself up, she staggered across the hallway, placing her hands up at the last second to catch herself against the far wall.  


“ _Breathe, breathe, just get in the damn elevator and make it back to somewhere private._ ”  


An electronic chime sounded from nearby and she glanced to her right to see the elevator doors sliding open. Her feet quickly carried her through them, her finger jabbing the button for the level one floor up as quickly as possible. The floor jolted slightly as the elevator began to move and she found her balance tipping, once again. This time, though, she was already holding onto the railing that ran around the back three sides of the car, and she simply gripped it tighter, holding herself in place and on her feet.  


Finally, as the doors slid open, her knees nearly gave out. She could still see the inside of the car around her, but just beyond the doors seemed to be a large, grassy field. She could already feel the wind blowing against her and the earthy smell of dirt, plants, and animals. Somehow, the resolve came back to her and she stood up straight, blinking rapidly. Her vision blurred slightly, but the image didn’t disappear. On a whim, she glanced down to see that she was still in her clothes from the facility.  


“ _Am I… did I finally snap?_ ”  


She reached over to press a button on the elevator panel, but it seemed to have gone dark, none of them responding to her input.  


“Only one way to go…” she muttered.  


Just before she moved to step outside, she tapped her Focus but nothing happened.  


“GAIA?”  


No response came, save for the sounds of the wilderness ahead.  


“Shit.”  


With a deep breath, she stepped forward, a strange feeling passing over her as she stepped beyond the doorway. Immediately, she whirled around, only to find that the elevator had disappeared; only the dirt trail back into a thick forest remained behind her. Glancing down, she found herself back in the strange leather and fur clothing she had seen several times before.  


Slowly, she turned back around to face the direction she had been previously and swallowed.  


“Guess this seems like a way to go,” she said, eying the dirt path that stretched from underneath her into the distance.  


As she began walking along it, some of the tenseness in her body began to melt away as she caught herself idly running her fingers through the tall grass along one side of the path, the beginnings of a smile pulling at the corners of her lips.  


“Just like when Mom and I used to go hiking,” she muttered.  


It was becoming harder and harder for her to ignore the light, airy feeling bubbling up in her chest and finally she found herself laughing out loud as she held her arms out to her sides and tilted her head back toward the sky. She spun slowly as she continued moving, letting the feeling of the wind and the sun fully sink into her.  


“ _This… all this… why was I so afraid of it?_ ”  


Inhaling deeply through her nose she opened her eyes and secretly reveled in still finding the wilderness around her. No sudden leaps back to a cold, steel hallway with harsh fluorescent lights, no facing a concerned and scared Samina or Charles, no weight of knowing GAIA was inevitably monitoring her. She let out the breath she had taken in as her arms fell to her sides, once again, the material of the clothing beneath her fingers barely even feeling strange to her, at this point.  


“So… forward, for now, I guess.”  


She continued along the trail, eyes focused on the top of the hill she was heading toward. A small stream rolled by to her right, the sound instantly catching her attention. She finally slowed to a stop, staring down at the surprisingly clear water and rubbing the palms of her hands against the skirt section of her tunic. Finally, she moved forward, approaching the edge and crouching down beside it. Her hand slowly reached toward it, but hesitated just inches from the surface. The faint mist coming off the stream as it crashed into and over small rocks in its bed hit her hand and she felt a strange shiver run down her spine. With a slow, deep breath, she plunged her hand into the water.  


Almost immediately, she gasped at the shock of how cold it was, but didn’t jump away. She let the water run over her exposed hand for several seconds as her initial shocked reaction began to fade into laughter. As soon as she pulled her hand from the water, the wind made it feel even colder, but she ignored it, watching the droplets fall back into the stream below. She lifted her hand above her, staring at the droplets hanging off the edge of her palm against the sun overhead.  


“No runoff, no acid burning through my skin…”  


With another bought of laughter she cupped her hands together and reached down, catching some of the stream’s water in them and bringing them to her lips. Immediately, she made a noise and shook her head, but quickly laughed, once again.  


“River water is still river water, Lis.”  


Instead of letting the rest of the water fall back into the stream, she brought her hands toward her and splashed it over her face. The cold shock of the water against her skin caused her to shiver, once again, but the feeling quickly passed. With one last sigh, she shook her head, flinging some of the remaining drops still running off her chin away and rose to a standing position, once again.  


“Okay, nice detour, but… I’m guessing I’m supposed to be going this way.”  


With a sigh, she resumed her journey along the dirt path, leaving the stream behind and heading ever closer to her goal at the top of the hill. As she did, she could feel the temperature around her falling, the cool wind now turning cold and creating goosebumps along her exposed arms. She rubbed at them in an attempt to warm herself, but it proved rather unsuccessful. Regardless, she forced herself to press on. As she reached the top, she heard the loud, unmistakable sounds of heavy machinery ahead and she paused, confusion creasing her face.  


“What in the hell…?”  


She doubled her pace, walking quickly toward the crest of the hill, her feet slipping ever so slightly on the now snow-dusted rocks around her. Once she reached the top, she came to a stop, searching for the source of the sounds. As her eyes fell on the scene below her, the first thing she noticed was the large stone wall with a firm, wooden gate set into it. The structure was unlike anything she had seen so far, more akin to something she remembered from movies and stories about medieval times than any “modern day” or even tribal structures she had seen already.  


The sound of machinery came again and her eyes were drawn from the hulking structure to the ground in front of it. As soon as she caught sight of what was making the noise, her heart nearly stopped and she physically staggered back a step or two.  


“No… no… no, that… no…”  


She reached out for something to hold herself up, but the rocky side of the hill next to her was farther away than she imagined and she tumbled to the side, falling to the ground. The pain from the impact barely registered with her as she kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, staring at the source of her sudden breakdown. She lay where she fell for a moment or two before the sound of the mechanical whirring stopped. Her eyes widened at the sight of a large, red light facing directly at her, seemingly holding her heart still with its very gaze.  


A moment later, she realized that it was coming toward her at high speed, and the part of her mind that had been screaming at her to move this entire time finally took control and she scrambled to crawl backward, back toward the stream and the trees and the sunlight, away from what was charging right at her.  


Finally, her motor controls seemed to kick in enough and she was able to spin around, deftly hopping to her feet and racing for a large cluster of rocks nearby. She moved to rush behind it when her instincts suddenly seemed to kick her into a slide, the force of the impact with the ground sending a jolt of pain up her tailbone, but her clothing otherwise protected her from ripping the skin of her legs open.  


The next thing she knew, she was crouched behind the cover, her back pressed firmly against the hard, cold surface. Her breaths came in heavy, rasping heaves and so she quickly placed a hand over her mouth in an attempt to quiet them, somewhat. The metal clanking reached the crest of the hill where she had been moments ago, but came to a stop. She took one final, gasping breath and tried to hold it, keeping one hand pressed firmly over her mouth and nose.  


With each heavy, metallic clank and whir combined with an electronic chirp and chime, she could feel her heart rate increase. She found that even if she had wanted to pull her hand away and make a run for it, her muscles didn’t want to respond. A voice in the back of her mind was simply screaming “this is it” over and over. As she heard the heavy steps begin to move closer, she closed her eyes firmly, her mind unable to think of another option.  


After several long moments, she realized that the mechanical sounds had stopped, replaced with a soft, constant hum. Her eyes slowly cracked open to reveal not a rocky hillside, but a metal wall, tinged purple by some kind of light. As she opened her eyes further, she jumped and crawled backwards, the sight of a person standing in front of her catching her off guard. As she did, she quickly realized that her back was no longer pressed against a large rock, and something much softer than the rocky ground was beneath her.  


Her head spun from side to side, taking in her environment for a moment or two before she finally seemed to recognize it.  


“I’m… my quarters…”  


She glanced down beneath her to see the disheveled sheets of her bed, her hands firmly grasping the top comforter in a death grip. Her fingers relaxed as she looked up to see the image of the person standing in front of her, once again, but she quickly realized why they had not moved or spoken, yet. It was an image of herself, semi-transparent and tinged purple by the Focus’s projection, frozen in place as she stared straight ahead, an unreadable expression on her face.  


“Dr. Sobeck?”  


She jumped at the sudden sound of another’s voice, but quickly forced herself to calm down.  


“Y-yeah, it’s me,” she said.  


“I guessed that may be so,” GAIA’s calm voice came again. “Welcome back.”  


“Yeah… never more glad to be,” she sighed, shivering once again as the image of the bright, red light shining at her passed before her eyes.  


“You seem particularly more agitated than usual following your episodes,” GAIA continued. “Query: is everything all right?”  


“I mean… is it ever, lately?”  


“It would not seem—”  


“Sarcasm, GAIA.”  


“Noted.”  


With a heavy sigh, Elisabet pulled herself forward to the end of the bed and placed her head in her hands, rubbing at her eyes with the heels of her palms.  


“I… I saw something that time that shouldn’t… that shouldn’t have been possible.”  


“Query: how do you mean this?”  


“I… I was saying I thought… it was… like… a different person, right?”  


“Are you referring to your theory about your behavior during these episodes?”  


“Yes.”  


“You believed it was not some form of dissociative personality disorder previously.”  


“Yeah, and…”  


“Now you do not?”  


“I don’t know what I believe,” she sighed, lifting her head, finally. “Please tell me the reason I’m in here staring at the video of myself is because you recorded what happened when… ‘I’ watched the video?”  


“Affirmative. Would you like to see the playback?”  


“Yes, I would very much so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like cliffhangers, sorry (not sorry). Tune in next week for some of everyone's favorite redheaded huntress very out of her element!


	13. Talking to Myself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well... would you look at the day? Apparently I like cliffhangers so much that I accidentally forgot to post on Monday and leave you all hanging. My bad. In my defense, I spent the past two days with my girlfriend and saw a concert that went late on Monday, so... yeah. Anyway, this seems to be a moment many of you have been waiting for, so enjoy.

The frozen image of herself disappeared, replaced by a moving one a moment later.  


“This… this is where people sleep?” the image said, looking around before seemingly taking a seat on thin air.  


The image bounced slightly on her seat, glancing around behind her and Elisabet assumed the recording was actually her sitting on the bed.  


“Comfy,” she muttered, jumping suddenly when the Focus on her right ear lit up and a voice began speaking.  


The two layers of digital distortion made listening to her message sound like it was recorded underwater, but it was still largely intelligible.  


“Hello there… Aloy.”  


The visible recording of Elisabet’s eyes widened and she began to rise to her feet at the sound of the name.  


“I… this is probably as weird for you as it is for me,” the recording continued. “To… tell the truth, I—I don’t really know how to start this, so… I guess I’ll just try to say everything I can think of.”  


The recording was staring enraptured straight ahead and it was beginning to freak the real Elisabet out slightly, since her gaze fell just above her head.  


“My name is Elisabet Sobeck, and I am a scientist in the year 2066 on Earth. I… don’t know where you are from, but… I’ve seen it and…”  


The recording didn’t avert her eyes, but she slowly began to take a seat, once again.  


“It’s beautiful,” the message continued. “Now, I’m sure you’ve experienced some of what I have, based on what I’ve been told—and I’m sure you’ve run into this in your ‘normal life’, too—these strange ‘episodes’ where you feel like you’ve slipped into some alternate world. I thought they were just dreams at first, created by lack of sleep and stress, but now… I think I know differently.  


“I… god, this is going to sound strange… I want to know some about you, and… just what the hell is going on. Maybe then, we can both help each other get through this… whatever this is… without anyone locking us away for going crazy. I don’t know how much time you’ll have to hear this message, because these episodes seem to vary in length, but… I hope you can at least see this much and… well, I hope I don’t get you into some kind of trouble while you’re here, because… there’s a good chance that… I’m… you… during this.”  


The image’s eyes widened as her chest began to heave and Elisabet saw her hands instinctually curling into fists around the sheets beneath her.  


“So… I know your name, and now you know mine… I guess… There’s another video, if you have time… until then…”  


The image of herself finally looked away from the recording, her head falling to stare down at the floor in front of her shaking it slowly.  


“What… this… is… How could she… the woman from the Eclipse’s Focus… know my name…?”  


The image suddenly froze and Elisabet actually jumped slightly.  


“This is when you returned,” GAIA’s voice broke in. “Query: did you gain anything useful from this?”  


“Some,” she sighed. “I guess I hoped she’d have time to watch both, but still… I don’t know what I expected… her to spout some kind of personal information back?”  


“The body language was distinctly different from yours.”  


“It’s… younger,” Elisabet finally said, her brow furrowing slightly.  


“Query: what do you mean by this?”  


“The bouncing on the bed, the wide-eyed look staring at the recording…” she continued, pausing for a moment or two. “I never described anything about the episodes before, did I?”  


“You did describe them to some degree before, yes.”  


Elisabet sighed, running her hands through her hair.  


“Even my own memory is going to hell… I feel like I’m almost even farther from figuring this out now than I was before.”  


“Query: was this recording unhelpful?”  


“No, it was helpful,” she said quickly, “but…”  


With a sigh, she rose to her feet, beginning to pace about the room.  


“That first time I experienced one of the extended episodes, the one where Samina found me in the hallway in the middle of the night, and I saw my reflection…”  


“You said you appeared to be younger.”  


Elisabet nodded.  


“Query: approximately what age would you estimate the image in the reflection to be?”  


“Not, like, a kid,” she said, laughing slightly, “but… I don’t know, somewhere between eighteen and early twenties?”  


“Query: this was not a memory?”  


“Well, obviously I don’t—”  


She turned on her heel to pace back across the room but immediately froze with the word in her throat as she was suddenly confronted by the image of a man in rather ornate metal armor. A moment later, the sensation of the cold air hit her and she shivered slightly, shaking her head and clearing her throat, as if in an attempt to hide the halt in her sentence.  


“Is that a no, then?” the man asked.  


“Uh… I’m sorry, I… can you repeat the question?”  


The man frowned slightly, glancing at a similarly-dressed soldier, presumably, beside him.  


“Some of our men have not returned, would you be able to look for them?”  


“Oh, uh… y-yes, I can do that,” she said feeling like somehow it would be easier to agree than decline. “Where should I start looking?”  


He gave her an odd look, once again, but answered, regardless.  


“East, near the Forsaken Village.”  


“Okay, got it.”  


“May you travel in the sun.”  


She didn’t know what to say in response, so she nodded, attempting a smile, but the entire gesture felt incredibly awkward and she quickly began to turn and walk away.  


“Okay, great start…” she muttered under her breath. “Now where the hell am I?”  


A quick glance around seemed to reveal that she was behind the large gate she had seen earlier, but the lack of mechanical sounds only engendered confusion in her. She had only been “back” in the normal world for a few minutes, so unless the machine that had seemingly been hunting her…  


The thought suddenly caused her heart rate to skyrocket and she found her breaths coming in short gasps, her eyes widening as she quickly fought to control the sudden panic attack that had come over her. Her knees felt weak, but she didn’t see anywhere to sit, so she simply tried to pass it off by rolling her shoulders and taking a deep breath.  


Whatever it was she had seen earlier was clearly gone, since no one around her was actively fighting or running away screaming, so it was out of sight, out of mind. With that, she finally took one last deep breath and looked around a little more carefully. She seemed to have two choices of directions to go: right or left. To her right was the gate she had seen earlier, the wooden entrance now open, and to her left was a path farther into what looked like some kind of medieval military fortress.  


“He said East…” she muttered, glancing toward the sky in an attempt to get a read on where the sun was in it.  


Unfortunately, it appeared to be almost directly overhead, making it nearly impossible to navigate by its position. Letting out a huff of frustration, she glanced toward the gate, once again.  


“Well… I’m going to guess they didn’t get lost in their own base,” she muttered. “Back out I go.”  


With that, she set off toward the gate, acutely aware of all the various pouches, holders, and weapons jostling against her with each step. The weight from it all was not all that great, but it was still more than she was used to. As she passed through the large opening, her eyes immediately fell on the destroyed machines scattered about the hillside just outside. They had been the ones attacking the guards when she had arrived earlier, but one was noticeably missing. The tense feeling in her chest began to build, once again, as she moved farther into the open ground, keeping a wary eye for the glowing red light from before.  


Once she had made her way to the top of the hill, she came to a full stop, her legs seemingly refusing to take her farther. The black shape that had given her a full on panic attack earlier now lay still in the middle of the path she had found herself travelling along earlier. She expected a swarm of nanobots to suddenly emit from it, engulfing her or any other biological mass nearby, shredding it all to a bloody pulp, but no such thing happened. It simply lay still.  


Finally, she became aware that her legs had begun moving, once again, but they were now taking her toward the hulking shape. Her mind screamed at her to stop, but she continued on, regardless. Finally, when she reached the metal form, she instinctually reached behind her and produced the spear wrapped in the red and blue cloth she had seen before, her knuckles turning white with her intense grip on the wooden shaft.  


With a deep breath, she prodded the black metal, eliciting a dull clank when the tip met it. The mass didn’t move, nor did it give any signs of starting up. It was actually dead. Some of the tension in her chest began to melt away, but her grip on the spear didn’t relax. She slowly began to move around the hulking mass until she could more closely examine the main part of the body. She had seen this design countless times before: on news broadcasts, in factories, in her nightmares, so she knew what it should look like enough to know that parts appeared to be missing. A circular launcher of some kind that should have been mounted on the top part of the chassis was missing, seemingly ripped off, and the red eye that had stared her down before now had several arrows buried in it. Her hand slowly reached out and ran over part of the metal chassis, the metal still warm to the touch. When she pulled it away, a fine coating of black soot remained on her palm and she frowned slightly.  


“It’s like it was… burned,” she muttered.  


As her attention turned back to the machine, absentmindedly brushing her hand off on her skirt, she noticed that the center part of it seemed to have been ripped open, revealing the inner wiring. She moved closer, crouching down to examine it more closely.  


“Someone removed the processor,” she muttered.  


Something clicked in the back of her mind and she stood up, looking down at herself until she spotted a particular carrying pouch that seemed to jingle slightly when she shook it. She opened the top and reached inside, pulling out what looked like the motherboard to a computer, torn wires still attached.  


“Well… I guess _I_ removed it,” she muttered, looking down at the part with something like admiration in her expression.  


She replaced the part in its pouch and cinched the top, once again.  


“Okay, missing guys,” she muttered. “Heading east… would be a hell of a lot easier if I knew exactly which direction I was going.”  


Just then, a thought occurred to her and she tapped the Focus attached to her temple. The interface opened before her and she quickly navigated to the “To Do” menu, pausing when she saw several entries in it, already. She forced herself to hold off on examining them and first opened a new one, quickly entering all of the information she could remember about finding the missing men before saving it to the list and returning to the main menu. A quick glance through several of the entries revealed similar ones to what she had added, various tasks that must have been given to her elsewhere.  


“ _No, given to_ Aloy _elsewhere,_ ” she reminded herself, shivering slightly at the thought.  


The one seemingly prioritized at the top told her to get to Meridian, but she had no earthly idea where that even was. A smirk tugged at her lips as she glanced at the names assigned to each one of the tasks.  


“Quite the flair for the dramatic,” she muttered.  


Names like “The Forgotten,” “In Her Mother’s Footsteps,” “A Seeker at the Gates,” and “Luck of the Hunt” stood out to her immediately, but she glanced through most of them before closing the interface, altogether.  


“Okay, wasting time, here, Lis,” she muttered. “You know you don’t have much—”  


Suddenly, the world spun around her and she staggered to the side, nearly dropping the spear in her hand. She grit her teeth as she fought to keep her feet under her, her breathing coming in heavy gasps. Suddenly, she blinked and the view of her quarters at the facility came into view. The next blink, though, and it was gone, replaced with the dirt path, once again. The world seemed to tilt to one side and her stomach lurched as she threw her hand out to one side, finding the metal side of the machine after a few attempts. Her jaw clenched as she took deep breaths through her nose. The world had seemingly stopped spinning and was righting itself, but the next blink revealed what seemed to be the end of her bed in her quarters.  


Once again, she felt her stomach lurch, only to be faced with the dirt ground as she pitched forward and vomited. She coughed as a dry heave wracked her torso, once again, and she leaned even more heavily against the machine beside her. Her stomach heaved, once again, and she vomited, the liquid splashing against one of the legs of the machine she was leaning against and some of the droplets nearly landing on her boot.  


She breathed heavily for several seconds before spitting on the ground in an attempt to get the bad taste from her mouth, but it only marginally helped. On the plus side, the world had stopped spinning and tilting, so the nauseas feeling had subsided. With one last heavy sigh, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and pushed away from the machine.  


“Flashback to college,” she muttered, laughing as she shivered and spit several more times in vain attempts to remove the taste from her mouth  


Placing the spear back in its holder on her back, she continued along the path, away from the machine, hoping that it was vaguely taking her east. As she found herself walking along the twisting, rocky way, admiring the views of the grassy plains and river below, the thought that this was the longest she had spent in this alternate reality, world, whatever it was, occurred to her.  


“ _I guess the whole spinning world and vomiting session back there was, like, trying to go back? Fuck, I really have no idea what the hell is going on._ ”  


The sudden sound of some kind of electronic whirring and an alarm caused her to snap out of her daze as she looked around wildly for the source of the sound. Images of the same red light from before bearing down on her came to mind, but she didn’t immediately see any signs of a spindly-legged deathbot charging toward her. Instead, she saw something that looked almost like some kind of mechanical tiger in a crouched position below her, its eyes turning from yellow to red.  


“Shit.”  


She found herself instinctually reaching behind her and removing a bow from over shoulders and knocking an arrow in one smooth motion. The idea that all of those motions shouldn’t have been at all natural crossed her mind, but she didn’t have a chance to dwell on it as the robo-tiger began to charge at her, leaping up the rocky side of the hill with ease. Almost before she could comprehend it, the arrow in her hand was pulled back and then fired straight at the machine. The arrowhead dug itself into one of its eyes and it staggered slightly, letting out a sound almost like one of pain.  


With a deep breath, she drew another arrow and pulled the bowstring taut, the tip of the arrow adjusting minutely as she tracked the motion of the machine. She almost found herself receding back in her mind, letting the instincts in her muscles take over as her hands made the tiniest of adjustments to how her fingers held the arrow to the string and where the bow was pointed. The feeling of power and control that seemed to flow through her all of the sudden nearly scared her and she felt her hand begin to shake slightly, but she willed her grip to firm, once again, and the rigid as steel aim returned.  


Another arrow flew from her bow and struck the machine somewhere on its back, but sparks flew from it as it staggered, once again. Almost before she could even comprehend what she was doing, she found herself throwing the bow over her shoulders and trading it for the spear, charging forward as she did. Her foot found placement on a rock somewhat larger than the rest and she pushed off it, the ground quickly falling away beneath her as she soared through the air, spear held in her right hand.  
The next second, she had landed on top of the machine, both feet squarely planting on its right front flank as her other hand came up to grip the spear, as well, and she drove the tip straight down into its neck, between two sections of armor plating. Sparks shot up from the machine beneath her as it let out a loud sound somewhere between a roar and a whine, followed quickly by the sound of tearing metal. Her knees bent as she pulled the spear from the machine’s neck. A moment later, she pushed off its back, sending herself flying through the air, once again. She twisted slightly mid-arc, landing on her feet and sliding a bit on the loose, rocky surface.  


The machine staggered and fell onto its side as one foot clawed feebly at the air. Before it had a chance to try to right itself, though, she rushed forward and drove the spear straight into its underbelly, approximately where Elisabet guessed the heart on a real big cat would be. The machine thrashed for a moment or two before the sound like an engine winding down came from it and the hulking robo-tiger fell still.  


She remained holding the spear in the belly of the machine for a moment or two longer, her chest heaving as sweat ran down her face and neck. Finally, she yanked it free and took a step or two back, letting out a heavy sigh as she wiped the back of one arm across her forehead. For once, she was grateful for her lack of sleeves. Without looking, she began to fall backwards, only catching herself at the last second before settling down into a seated position on the rocky slope.  


“Holy shit,” she panted. “That… goddamn…”  


With a heavy sigh, she rubbed her hand over her eyes, only to find herself confronted with the concerned face of Samina as she took her hand away. She nearly jumped a foot in the air as she staggered back a step or two, a surprised cry caught halfway to her lips. The look of concern on the other woman’s face turned to surprise, as well, as she took a step back, her eyes widening.  


“I-I’m sorry,” Elisabet said quickly, noticing the immediate change in the sound of her voice from just a moment ago.  


“Elisabet…” Samina said slowly, the surprised look not entirely fading from her face as she took a tentative step forward, “you know me, so please take this seriously… what the hell just happened?”


	14. Confidant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, happy Monday. It's a long chapter today, so hope you're ready for it. Strap in for the ride.

Her heart stopped for a second as liquid ice poured through her veins. The look on the other woman’s face combined with her words was almost too much to handle at that particular moment. A hard lump appeared in her throat, blocking any words from coming out, even as she desperately tried to swallow it away.  


“I—I—it—you just—”  


“Elisabet, please don’t lie to me.”  


Samina stamped her foot as she spoke, causing her to take yet another step back into her quarters.  


“I only want to help you… but I feel so helpless when you leave me in the dark, and now… you can’t keep telling me nothing is wrong when one second you seem fine and the next you’re jumping like you didn’t even realize I was here.”  


Elisabet’s mouth hung open as she tried to think of anything to say, but the sheer panic of the situation seemed to have stolen even her basic ability to speak. The other woman looked to her expectantly; it was clear she was not going to leave until she got some kind of an answer.  


“I-I…” Elisabet finally managed, her voice raspy.  


She swallowed forcefully before taking a deep breath.  


“If… if you want to know… please come inside and close the door.”  


A look of relief seemed to wash over Samina before it was quickly replaced with one of worry, once again, as she stepped through the doorway and it closed behind her.  


“Lock it,” Elisabet said, beginning to turn to pace across the room. “I… we don’t want anyone walking in unexpectedly.”  


The other woman’s expression only got more severe, but she did as she asked, locking the door to Elisabet’s quarters and turning to face her, folding her arms over her chest.  


“So…” the redhead began, her voice shaking, “where to begin…”  


Samina waited patiently, the silence almost worse than if she had simply started making demands.  


“I… you know I’ve had those ‘blackouts,’” she traced quotes in the air as she spoke, “we’ve talked about them.”  


“I’ve seen at least one, too.”  


Elisabet swallowed shakily, once again.  


“D-during those… times… I… I’m… I’m not myself.”  


Samina looked confused.  


“What do you mean?”  


“I…”  


Elisabet’s hands were clenched into fists so tightly that she swore she was about to dislocate a few of her fingers.  


“I… see things. Experience things… that…”  


Samina’s eyebrows raised slightly, but she didn’t say anything.  


“Not like… hallucinations,” she continued. “Like… I can _feel_ things… _touch_ things… _hear_ things, but… it’s like I’m not really here.”  


By now, Samina’s expression had softened, but was no less worried.  


“I… I don’t feel like I’m _here_ , at all,” she said quietly.  


“What kind of things?”  


She blinked rapidly, looking over at the other woman, somewhat surprised at the sound of her voice.  


“Like… everything around me, but… sometimes… things that aren’t.”  


Samina continued to stare back at her, as if she knew there was more, already.  


“I… I could have sworn I felt grass, Samina,” she said softly. “I felt like I was walking through snow, felt the wind in my hair, the sun on my skin… It felt like outside and… everything was fine.”  


“Elisabet…”  


“No, please, let me finish,” she interrupted, holding up one hand. “You wanted to know, and… if I stop I’m going to lose my nerve.”  


Samina’s mouth closed slowly and she nodded, unfolding her arms and shoving her hands in her back pockets.  


“At first I just thought they were crazy dreams, somehow spilling into reality due to stress and everything you tell me is bad for me.”  


The other woman’s lips pulled into a small smile as Elisabet shot her a smirk.  


“But then… they started to get…”  


She suddenly found herself unable to continue, her voice seemingly caught in her throat. After several long seconds of trying to continue her thought, what finally came out was entirely not what she had intended.  


“I can’t tell if I’m going insane or what the fuck is going on and I’m scared shitless.”  


Her eyes widened at her sudden admission as her heart began to race faster and faster.  


“Oh my god, I didn’t… that…”  


Samina’s expression changed to one of such strong sympathy that it bordered on pity and Elisabet found a heated feeling appearing in her chest.  


“Elisabet…”  


“No, you need to know,” she interrupted, once again, grinding her teeth. “GAIA?”  


After a brief pause, the calm feminine voice appeared from speakers in the room.  


“Yes, Doctor Sobeck?”  


“Show Samina logged recording number one of me during one of my episodes.”  


“Elisabet, you specifically locked these to you only. Are you sure—?”  


“GAIA,” she interrupted gruffly. “Show her.”  


A pause followed, once again, before an electronic chime sounded.  


“Playing first logged video recording.”  


The first recording played through, showing a dazed and confused Elisabet, although without the benefit of overlaying it over the actual scenery of her office. During the entire recording, though, she was unable to look at Samina. Finally, after it had ended, the room was thrown into silence. The hum of the lights overhead might as well have been jet engines as it seemed both women were holding their breaths, almost daring the other to speak first. Elisabet kept wringing her hands in an attempt to hide the severe shaking that had begun in them. Finally, when the tremors spread to her knees, she took a seat at the end of her bed and stared down at them.  


After a few moments, she expected to hear the sound of the door opening and Samina’s footsteps hurrying away, but instead she felt weight sink onto the mattress and she glanced over to see the other woman sitting beside her. Without saying a word, she shakily extended one hand behind her, placing it in the center of Elisabet’s back. A moment later, she began to hold her other arm out and Elisabet simply let her wrap her in a gentle embrace.  


“Am I insane?”  


“No, you are not.”  


“But you just saw—!”  


“Elisabet, no.”  


Samina’s embrace grew firmer as Elisabet fought to keep her breathing under control.  


“What I saw… I don’t know how to explain it, like you said. It doesn’t seem to be like you, no. That doesn’t mean that you have lost my respect, my faith, or my friendship.”  


A warm feeling began to spread in Elisabet’s chest as she swallowed nervously. She wanted to believe her, but she didn’t know how it could be true after everything she had just said and showed her.  


“I still want to help you,” the other woman continued. “However that may be.”  


A long moment passed between them before Elisabet slowly reached up to place her hand on Samina’s arm around her.  


“I… I want to understand.”  


A soft laugh came from right near her head as she felt Samina’s arms shake slightly.  


“Of course you do.”

 

The sound of an incoming call on Elisabet’s Focus caused her to jerk back from her desk in surprise, eyes widening for a moment before she realized what the sound was and waved the icon to accept it.  


“Yes?”  


“Hey, are you and Samina there going to eat today, or are you gals going to pull an all-nighter on sheer willpower alone?”  


Elisabet blinked several times, glancing over to find Samina also looking nearly like she had just woken up, lifting her head away from the desk in front of her and blinking rapidly.  


“Lost track of time,” she said. “You didn’t eat all of the food, did you?”  


“Naw, even if it was tempting. Gonna be cold soon, though.”  


“Thanks for the reminder, then.”  


“Don’t say I never did nothing for ya.”  


With a shake of her head and a sigh, she hung up the call and ran her hands over her face.  


“Who was that?” Samina asked.  


“Travis,” she replied. “Asking if we were planning on eating anytime soon.”  


“What time is it?”  


Samina checked her own Focus and raised her eyebrows.  


“I lost track of time.”  


“Me, too.”  


Both of them laughed as Samina rose to her feet, stretching her arms over her head and twisting her torso slightly.  


“Now that you mention it, though, we should eat.”  


Elisabet nodded, getting to her feet, as well.  


“Everything we talked about today, Samina…” she began, but the other woman nodded.  


“I understand. I’m not going to tell anyone.”  


Elisabet smiled slightly as she nodded in response.  


“Thank you.”  


The other woman gave her a genuine smile in response, engendering a warm feeling in her chest and causing her to awkwardly turn and lock down her consoles.  


“Okay, let’s get—”  


As she turned around, she found herself standing not at her desk, but at the edge of a lake. The water stretched out a good ways before her, eventually colliding with the shore of a small island in the center of it. A moment later, the rest of her senses seemed to catch up and she could smell the earthy tones of the wet sand beneath her feet, as well as something much more… metallic; it bordered on a taste in her mouth, even.  


Wrinkling her nose, she glanced around before spotting what must have been the cause: pieces of what appeared to be metal armor lay on the shore beside her, stained red, while more spots of the same vermillion substance appeared to have fallen in the sand, as well. She knelt down, taking note of the fur-and-metal skirt and leather leggings that covered her lower half, and carefully ran her fingers over the metal pieces. As she held her hand before her, she could distinctly tell that it was blood.  


“That’s not a good sign…” she muttered. “It’s not mine… right?”  


She quickly stood up, giving herself a once-over, but not finding any signs of injuries or bloodstains anywhere on her person. Breathing a sigh of relief, she crouched down at the water’s edge and ran her fingers through it, attempting to wash away the blood on them. A shiver ran up her spine at the chilly temperature, but it could have also been partially due to simply being able to touch a body of water outside without fear of having her flesh melted off. Suddenly, another thought occurred to her and she froze mid-motion, eyes widening.  


“Samina…”  


She jumped to a standing position, running her hands back through the wild mane of hair behind her.  


“Shit, shit… I’m here, so… shit.”  


With a deep breath, she pinched the bridge of her nose and opened her eyes, once again.  


“I guess that’s something to worry about… whenever I’m back.”  


She glanced down at the bloody armor, once again, before slowly turning in place to scan the surrounding area.  


“Okay, guess I’m trying to figure this out,” she muttered, calling up her Focus’s interface.  


The to-do task of finding the missing soldiers seemed to still be the top priority, but a few steps had been added to it. Evidently several of the missing men had been found dead, causing her to frown slightly. Whatever trail she had been following, though, led her to exactly where she was standing, ending with: “follow trail across the lake.”  


“What? Where?”  


She turned to the water once again to see a small, yellow diamond overlaid over the image of the real world, hovering just above the island in the middle of the lake. With a groan, her shoulders slumped, the Focus interface closing around her.  


“Well, I guess was always an ‘all right’ swimmer…”  


With a few deep breaths, she rolled her shoulders, glancing down at her outfit. It didn’t look particularly conducive to swimming, and carrying all of the extra weight of the bow and her supplies only seemed to make the task even more arduous than it had to be.  


“Okay, probably not that strong of a swimmer,” she muttered.  


Suddenly, the memory of fighting the large robo-tiger previously came back to her and she paused for a moment, staring vacantly down at the water.  


“ _It was all instinct, then,_ ” crossed her mind. “ _Like I could just kind of… let my muscles do their thing on their own…_ ”  


Breathing a long, shaky sigh, she turned to look toward the island, once again. Before she could psyche herself out of her idea, she began to wade into the water, the temperature immediately chilling her through the tanned leather leggings. A gasp forced its way past her lips, but she quickly forced herself to grit her teeth and continue onwards. Once the water was about halfway up her torso, she pushed off the bottom and fell forward, her head sinking below the surface and sending a cold shock to the entirety of her system. As she surfaced, once again, she let out an involuntary sound in response to the temperature, but quickly forced herself to press on.  


The cold liquid around her actually felt as if it were giving her a headache even after only a brief contact with it, but she began to power forward, regardless, sticking her head back into the water. Much like with the fight before, she quickly found herself slipping into a sort of trance-like state, letting her muscle memory take over. Soon after, she was powering across the lake with strong, confident strokes. It seemed as if it took less than a minute of continuous swimming before her feet touched the bottom, again, and she dragged herself onto shore.  


With a heavy sigh, she shook her head, water flinging from the braids in every direction. Although the clothing had seemed to keep the worst of the cold out, it wasn’t perfect insulation, and now it was sticking to her body at every point, the cold temperature slowly seeping through it to her skin.  


“Brilliant idea, Lis,” she muttered beneath her breath.  


She quickly tapped her Focus to find the interface still came to life almost immediately. They had been built waterproof in order to accommodate all sorts of uses and situations, but she never had a real reason or chance to test them as such before.  


“ _FAS always did have a way with building technology._ ”  


A grimace crossed her features for a moment before a mechanical whirring brought her back to the present and she quickly looked around of the source of the sound. After a few moments of searching, she pinpointed that it was coming from the other side of a large rock formation in the center of the island. A vague outline of something appeared overlaid over the rock, and as her eyes came to rest on it a small window appeared, as well.  


“Snapmaw?” she muttered aloud. “What the hell is that?”  


She noticed a small icon that looked like the letter “I” in the bottom right of the text box and she quickly tapped it to bring it up. Immediately, she was confronted with the image of what appeared to be a rather vicious machine, clearly inspired by a crocodile or alligator of some sort.  


“Oh… that’s a Snapmaw.”  
Fear suddenly gripped her chest as she looked over the image of the huge jaws, armor plated body, and glowing eyes. After another moment or two, she closed the text box and simply marked the shape on her Focus so that it would alert her if it began to draw nearer. With that, she glanced around for… something.  


“ _What am I even looking for?_ ”  


There had been the bloody scraps of metal armor on the shore, so it seemed logical enough to assume that it was related to those. The thought that armor didn’t usually just exist on its own without a person to wear it crossed her mind and she immediately felt dumb for not making the connection sooner.  


“Okay, so there’s… maybe some naked dude around here,” she muttered, “if he could survive a swim like that without protection and not get hypothermia.”  


Suddenly, another sound caught her attention and she began to listen intently. After a few moments, she realized that it sounded familiar. It was a human voice. Singing. Confusion immediately creased her features as she brought her focus interface up, once again, and used it to zero in on the sound. She slowly began to move across the island, keeping a wary eye on the outline that marked the location of the robo-croc in case it suddenly decided to give chase.  


Finally, she came to a large rock outcropping at the far side and scrambled up it, glancing back quickly to find that the shape marked “Snapmaw” hadn’t moved. Breathing a low sigh, she turned back toward the sound of the voice and began to make her way along the narrow path that seemed to run along the outside edge of the outcropping. She was acutely aware of the quiet squelching sounds of her waterlogged boots as she made her way over the stone surface, taking care not to slip and fall into the water, below. Finally, she came to a wider part of the outcropping and was immediately confronted with the image of a man lying on his back, one hand to his side. He was not naked, as she had feared, but simply wearing some kind of under-armor garments that looked almost like somewhat more heavy-duty sleepwear.  


“By the sun, a Nora?”  


Confusion crossed her face for a moment, the name not being the one that she had heard someone call her, previously, but she quickly pushed it aside as she knelt down beside the clearly injured man. The red stain on the entire right side of his torso that stretched down to his leg was more than enough explanation why he would be lying out on a rock, singing so deliriously.  


“I wasn’t expecting to be found.”  


“Yeah, well… surprise.”  


The man shook his head, making a sound that seemed to be somewhere between coughing and laughing.  


“I apologize for my behavior… I thought I was dead.”  


“Looks you might be if we don’t get you to… uh… someone who can help,” Elisabet said, struggling not to mention any words that she wasn’t sure someone in this strange place wouldn’t know.  


“There’s a healer at my outpost in Daytower, but I refuse to be led back like some prisoner… by a Nora.”  


The way he said it this time was enough for her to piece together that it wasn’t a person’s name he had said earlier, but either some kind of slur or racial term. Whatever it was, the fire building in her chest forced her words out of her before she could even think.  


“You know what? You clearly had it all handled by yourself, so I think I’ll just leave you to—”  


“W-wait!”  


The look of sudden desperation on his face was enough to elicit a smirk from her as she turned back to him and resettled into a kneeling position.  


“I… got in a tussle with a Snapmaw and it ate the half of me that was armor and bow. I need a weapon to get back. Please, get my bow back. The thief is still in the water below.”  


Elisabet glanced over her shoulder, activating her Focus and immediately finding the crocodile-like machine highlighted in the lake. With a sigh, she deactivated her Focus and turned back to the man.  


“Your pride is going to be the death of someone, someday,” she muttered, “but… fine.”  


She had no idea why she was suddenly agreeing to take on the very machine she had tried so hard to steer clear of moments ago, but some strange part of her deep down began to feel… giddy? The fight with the robo-tiger had been one thing, but this “Snapmaw” looked like it could tear one of those in half. Before she knew it, she was on her feet, turning around to face the water below, one hand raised toward her Focus. It activated a moment later, highlighting the shape of the machine, but this time she noticed that several parts of the outline seemed to be glowing a bright yellow. She focused in on the glowing parts to find new dialogue windows opening, describing their purpose, how important they were to the machine, and their weaknesses.  


“ _Aim for those parts, I guess._ ”  


With a deep breath, she pulled the bow from over her shoulders, knocking an arrow to it in one smooth motion, like she had before. The string was drawn taut almost effortlessly, her arms working almost of their own accord.  


“ _Like I’ve done this a thousand times before._ ”  


A shiver ran down her spine, but she quickly forced herself to firm her grip on the weapon, carefully aiming the tip toward the machine below. As she released the breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding, the air flew from her fingers, sailing through the air and striking the machine on its back, right on the protective casings to two small canisters just behind its head. It whirled around, the blue eyes turning yellow for a moment before seemingly finding her and changing to a vicious red.  


Her mind felt paralyzed even as her hands instinctually grabbed another arrow, striking the tip against a piece of flint attached to the actual body of the bow and setting it ablaze. She blinked rapidly as she felt the heat of the fire inches from her fingers, nearly sending the arrow flying harmlessly in a random direction, but she forced herself to keep her grip, gritting her teeth against the heat before looking back down at the Snapmaw below.  


“I take it you don’t like fire very much.”  


With a smirk, she aimed carefully and loosed the second arrow. It struck true in the same place as the first, but this time the protective casing had been removed, the arrowhead instead lodging itself in the glass of the canister full of strange, green liquid. After an anticlimactic few seconds where she began to wonder if the fire arrow had actually done anything of note, an explosion echoed across the lake as a ball of fire erupted from the shape of the machine. It began to thrash about in the water as Elisabet’s eyes widened, watching as the fire appeared to burn inside the machine, as well, turning the synthetic muscle a fiery orange. A moment later, another explosion ripped through the machine, and its thrashing slowly came to a stop. She waited a second or two to see if it were perhaps playing dead, but when it hadn’t moved, she scanned the form with her Focus.  


“Snapmaw: destroyed.”  


An involuntary laugh escaped her lips as she placed the bow back over her shoulder.  


“ _Now, he said it ate his bow, so that means that it’s…_ ”  


She stared down at the carcass of the machine still held afloat in the water and her shoulders sagged. There was no way she was going to be able to drag that massive thing out of the water by herself.  


“ _Time to get_ really _wet again._ ”  


Just as she turned to climb back down the outcropping, a thought occurred to her and she quickly called up the Focus’s interface, crossing off the step on the current “To Do” item that told her to swim to the lake and adding one about retrieving the bow from the machine.  


“ _Can’t be too careful._ ”  


As she closed the Focus interface, she sighed, rolling her neck and shoulders slightly. When she looked forward, once again, she found herself confronted with not the injured soldier on the rocks, but Samina standing on the other side of a desk from her. Her heart skipped a beat, but she tried not to react too obviously.  


“T-then… can we start over?”  


She blinked slightly, immediately reeling to figure out what she could have dropped into the middle of, but before she could stop herself, she said the first thing that popped into her head.  


“You’re not trying to ask me on a date, are you?”


	15. Meet The Other Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp... it's still Monday in Hawaii, or something like that... My sense of what day it is got all messed up from playing a concert Sunday afternoon/night and then taking today off. Excuses, I know. Kind of a short chapter this time, but it's pretty packed. Enjoy!

Samina’s face twisted from one that was near-unreadable to confusion as a smirk pulled at one corner of Elisabet’s lips.  


“W-what?”  


“I just thought we were going to get dinner, but if you’re going to turn it into a big deal, I don’t think I’m dressed for it.”  


Samina stared at her for another second or two in silence before blinking several times in rapid succession.  


“You’re… you’re back?”  


This time, Elisabet feigned confusion as she folded her arms over her chest.  


“Back?”  


“You… you were just having one of your ‘episodes.’”  


Her heart began to hammer in her chest as she tried to contain her outward reaction.  


“You… you didn’t know who I was, and you… acted differently.”  


No words came to her, but with how dry her mouth felt, she wasn’t sure she could have spoken, anyway. Before she was forced to endure the awkward silence any longer, an electronic chime sounded through the speakers in the room and both women jumped.  


“I archived the interaction,” GAIA spoke. “Would you like to view it?”  


“Yes.”  


They looked at each other as they spoke in unison, each woman’s lips drawn into a thin line.  


“Cuing recording of the interaction between Dr. Sobeck and Dr. Ebadji starting four minutes and forty-eight seconds ago.”  


The familiar purple-hued holograms of the two women suddenly appeared on the other side of the desk, prompting Samina to step back while Elisabet slowly began to make her way around them, approaching her side.  


“Let’s get—”  


The recording of Elisabet suddenly paused mid-sentence, as if she had forgotten what she was going to say, but the sudden jerking motion she made as she staggered back a step or two from her console was hard to miss.  


“Dinner? Yes, I’m starving.”  


The image shook her head as she turned to look back toward Samina, blinking rapidly. The poorly concealed look of panic on her face quickly turned to one that almost seemed like awe as she saw the other woman.  


“What? Is it that surprising?”  


The image shook her head quickly, clearing her throat.  


“Uh, no, I—yeah, I could eat, too.”  


The recording of Samina gave her an odd look as Elisabet visibly fidgeted on the spot.  


“Is everything okay?”  


The real Elisabet could tell the targeted question immediately, but the one in the recording fell for the trap.  


“Yes, I’m fine. Why?”  


“What was the last thing we talked about?”  


“You mean… like… just now?”  


The recording of Samina narrowed her eyes for a moment as Elisabet noted how she moved around the edge of the desk.  


“What can you remember… right now?”  


The recording of Elisabet grew increasingly uneasy yet instead of backing away, she seemed to adopt a more firm stance.  


“What is your name?”  


The real Elisabet glanced over at the real Samina, raising one eyebrow slightly.  


“Aggressive?”  


She received an admonishing look in return, followed by an impatient nod toward the holographic figures.  


“Really?” the recording said, sounding unimpressed. “Elisabet Sobeck.”  


The hologram of Samina tilted her head to the side slightly, studying the other woman.  


“Okay, you just seemed… off, for a moment.”  


The image of Elisabet shrugged and the real one made a mental note of how well this other inhabitant of her mind seemed to be replicating her mannerisms, or at least performing her own that were close enough.  


“I don’t know what to tell you.”  


The image of the other woman nodded and began to turn to walk around the desk.  


“We should get going, or else Travis might actually eat all the food.”  


“Who?”  


The image of Elisabet seemed to immediately stiffen up as the word slipped from her mouth. It was not lost on Samina, though, as she instantly whipped around to face her, again.  


“Elisabet, stop lying to me.”  


She could see the curled fists at the image’s sides as it almost looked like the recording of Elisabet would leap over the desk and attack the other woman, but they both remained where they were.  


“Lying?”  


“You just spoke to him a minute ago, and you’ve been working with him for several months, there’s no way you forgot who Travis Tate was just now.”  


“I just didn’t hear you, that’s all.”  


“Elisabet.”  


The real version could tell that the one in the recording was struggling with being at the disadvantage.  


“I’m. Fine.”  


“I…”  


The recording of Samina rubbed her forehead with one hand as she took a deep breath.  


“You remember… well, I hope you remember, what we talked about before. After everything you told me and showed me…”  


“I… it’s fine. I’m fine. Okay?”  


Silence fell over the two for a moment.  


“Just distracted a bit.”  


The recording of Samina nodded and gestured toward the door to the office.  


“Shall we?”  


The image of Elisabet visibly relaxed as she nodded and began to move around the desk, leading the way across the room. As they approached the door, she attempted to open it, but a distorted electronic chime sounded. She tried again, but with the same result.  


“What the…?”  


“You locked it. Remember?”  


The image of Elisabet stiffened as Samina took a step or two closer.  


“You don’t, do you?”  


Suddenly, she twisted away from the door, spinning to face the other woman as she adopted a tense, semi-crouched stance.  


“Elisabet—”  


“What do you want?”  


Elisabet’s heart began to race as she watched the image of herself begin to move away from her friend, everything about her mannerisms almost entirely different from her own.  


“I just want to understand what’s going on.”  


“What’s going on? You seem to be trying to trap me in something. That’s what’s going on.”  


“You started behaving so strangely—”  


“You immediately started accusing me!”  


“Okay…”  


Samina held her hands up in a sign of concession as she kept her distance from Elisabet, but it didn’t seem to lessen the tension in the other woman.  


“You told me that you experienced episodes where you felt disoriented… are you experiencing one now?”  


The image of Elisabet seemed to consider her for a moment or two in silence before slowly straightening into a normal stance, once again.  


“I—I told you?”  


Her heart began to beat even faster as she wiped her hands on the fabric of her pants, trying to remove the clammy feeling that had formed. She stole a glance over at the real Samina beside her to see the other woman had apparently been watching her for some time. Elisabet pulled an awkward double take before turning back to the holographic images, once again.  


“Yes, you did. I feel like I can take that answer as a ‘yes.’”  


When the image of Elisabet said nothing for several seconds, she continued.  


“I’m sorry if I made you feel threatened. As you may understand, I was simply concerned by the sudden change in behavior.”  


The image shifted her stance slightly, but still kept her distance and a wary eye on the other woman.  


“Do you remember who I am?”  


After a few seconds, the image slowly began to shake her head.  


“Samina… my name is Samina.”  


After several more still seconds ticked by, she continued, once again.  


“I’m your friend, okay?”  


“How do I know that?” the image of Elisabet finally spoke, her tone somewhat biting and making the real one wince.  


“We’ve known each other—”  


“From what I’ve seen, you could have locked me in this room before you immediately started attacking me.”  


This time, Elisabet noted how the recording of Samina appeared to physically react to this, recoiling as if she had actually been struck. They were harsh words, she had to admit, but understandable for someone with no context of how she ended up where she was.  


“I… I…”  


“So tell me why I should trust you, right now.”  


Watching the image of herself berate Samina tore at Elisabet’s heart and she found herself unable to look at the other woman, instead keeping her eyes focused on the purple-hued figures in front of them.  


“T-then… can we start over?”  


The image considered her for a moment or two before Elisabet noted a strange shiver that seemed to pass through her, and she blinked several times.  


“You’re not trying to ask me on a date, are you?”  


The recording froze as Elisabet found herself acutely aware of just how silent the room was, the only sound coming from the lights overhead. Finally, once neither woman had broken the silence, the electronic voice of GAIA came over the speakers.  


“That is when I detected a shift in your demeanor that indicated the end of the episode.”  


“I-I think we got that, GAIA,” Elisabet managed, clearing her throat shakily. “Thank you, though.”  


“Are you going to deny that was not some kind of ‘episode?’” Samina asked, immediately turning toward Elisabet. “Even GAIA detected a change in your actions.”  


She couldn’t meet the other woman’s glare, instead opting to stare down at the desk in front of her.  


“Elisabet, I thought you were telling me the truth about all of this,” the other woman continued, her tone more exasperated than angry, “but then you turn around and try to deny this when it actually happens.”  


“You saw it firsthand!”  


Samina recoiled slightly as Elisabet whirled to face her suddenly, her hands clenched into fists as her face began to flush red.  


“You saw how I acted just then! You tell me why I would want to admit to acting like a nutjob?!”  


The other woman stared back at her with an incredulous expression for several seconds before slowly beginning to take a step backwards.  


“I… I never thought you were crazy, Elisabet,” she said softly. “I just wanted to understand, and help you understand, as well.”  


“I—”  


“But,” the other woman interrupted, “I’m not sure you actually do want to understand.”  


The words froze in Elisabet’s throat as her expression began to change from anger to something like surprise. They remained in place as she watched the other woman slowly turn away from her and begin to move toward the door. Even after GAIA had released the lock and let her out, Elisabet found herself simply staring at the gunmetal-colored door, her feet still rooted in the same spot they had been since they had started watching the recording. After several long moments, GAIA’s voice broke the stillness of the room.  


“Elisabet? Are you okay?”  


Whatever words she had been about to say to Samina unraveled inside her, instead simply coming out as some kind of strangled cry as she collapsed into the rolling chair nearby, burying her face in her hands. GAIA did not press any further as the redhead’s shoulders shook, despite no additional sounds actually coming from her. What felt like hours passed before finally the calm, synthetic voice spoke up once again.  


“Elisabet, please say something.”  


Her shoulders slowly stopped shaking as her fingers began to slide down her face. Almost as soon as her eyes were visible again, she launched forward from her chair, swinging at something on her desktop.  


“Fuck!”  


A small cup of pencils and pens was sent flying into the large window directly ahead of her as she slammed her hands down on the cold desk surface, her entire torso now heaving.  


“Elisabet, I do not—”  


“Not now, GAIA!” she snapped, curling her fingers into tight fists. “I just… not now.”  


“Samina did not mean any malicious intent.”  


“It’s not in what she said,” Elisabet spat. “It’s what she didn’t.”  


“I do not quite understand.”  


With a heavy sigh, the redhead pushed away from the desk, running her hands through her hair as she closed her eyes.  


“It’s… a human thing.”  


“I determined as much. Why has it created such a strong emotional response in you?”  


Elisabet kept her eyes firmly closed as hints of hot tears began to form in the corners. Finally, she took a long, shaky breath and wiped them away with the backs of her hands.  


“Disappointment from others isn’t something I’m used to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random side-note thing: I often make "soundtracks" to accompany whatever I'm writing as a way to both gain inspiration when working on projects, as well as help part of my creative process in figuring out exactly what kind of tone each one has; would anyone be interested in having some kind of access to such a thing? I'm a big proponent of everyone experiencing stories in their own way, especially since written words don't have the benefit that movies/video games do of having actual soundtracks that play during them, but some people I've talked to find stuff like that interesting because they felt it gave a little more insight into what was going on. I guess if that sounds interesting, leave a comment, or tell me it's a dumb idea and to just keep it to myself. Whatever works for y'all.


	16. The World and All Its Creatures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a big'un; hope you all are ready for quite a bit of Elisabet in Aloy's world. Also, since the chapter title is a play on a piece title from the game's soundtrack (bonus points if you knew that before reading this), I'll reiterate/ask again here, since people maybe read more of these than the ones at the end of the chapters: would any of y'all be interested in having/hearing my "soundtrack" I compiled for this story? It's basically just a bunch of songs that I felt fit the tone/theme/style of various parts of this story overall, so take it more as an "inspired by" collection, rather than a hard and fast soundtrack for specific parts. Let me know, or tell me it's dumb. I dunno. Anyway, enough rambling.

Elisabet took a seat on the edge of her bed, rubbing at her eyes tiredly with one hand as she removed her Focus with the other. The hand at her eyes fell into her lap as she flipped the device over in her fingers several times. Occasionally, she could take a step back and think about how insane it seemed to have the ability to connect to so many people and systems all over the world from just one tiny device. The fact that so many of those connections had gone dark in the past several months crossed her mind for a moment, but she quickly forced it away. With a sigh, she enclosed the device in her fist before carefully dropping it on the shelf that acted as her nightstand.  


“All the tech in the world isn’t going to sort my shit out.”  


A groan forced its way past her lips as she laid flat on her bed, shifting slightly at the sensation of the scratchy comforter against the exposed skin of her arms. The thought that the fur blanket from that cabin in the first real episode she had days ago would be nice crossed her mind again and she grinned slightly as her eyes slid closed and she found the fatigue quickly settling in over her limbs.  


The view of an expanse of open ground appeared before her eyes, and for a moment she wondered if she had slipped into the shoes of the mysterious Aloy once again, but something told her this was different. Her senses seemed dulled, only her vision remaining as sharp as she was accustomed to normally. It was a dream; a real one, for once.  


As she studied the scenery before her, she found that it began to seem increasingly familiar. Finally, it dawned on her as she turned around, although the motion felt partially as if she were supposed to do it, whether she had willed herself to move or not. Immediately, the image of a wooden gate with fencing of matching construction stretching out to either side came into view. The next thing her eyes were drawn to was the actual building beyond the gate, the sight of the wooden siding and old shingle roof sending a jolt of nostalgia through her. She wanted so badly to be able to inhale the scent of the dirt and the wind and the wood, but something told her that it would seem just as stale as the memories of her family home usually did.  


At the thought, she closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears that had started to well up in them. An all too familiar feeling of tightness appeared in her chest and she desperately tried to dispel it, swallowing and inhaling deeply through her nose. As she did, she became aware that she could actually smell something, but it wasn’t the odd scent of her quarters, the metal mixed with the linens on her bed, but something much more earthy and… natural.  


A faint feeling of warmth also seemed to settle over her, mostly from somewhere directly ahead, as if…  


Elisabet’s eyes cracked open and she found herself staring at a blurry image of what she swore was a campfire. She blinked several more times until the image cleared enough for her to discover that was exactly what stood before her, although the flames were long dead and a thin wisp of smoke rose into the air from the ashen pile of wood. She shifted slightly and glanced down at herself, instantly noticing the braids strewn over her shoulder and the fur blanket covering her from there down.  


“ _I guess I did think it would be nice._ ”  


She didn’t have to lift the blanket up to know what kind of clothing she was wearing beneath it, so she simply faced forward, once again, and took in the scene before her. Beyond the campfire, the first thing she noticed was the brilliant pink and orange hues that lit up the sky. She lay mesmerized by the colors for several long moments before she found herself rising to her feet, wrapping the blanket around her like a cloak.  


Beneath the brilliant sunrise in the sky, the desert-like landscape stretched out to the horizon before her, the sand unmistakably a reddish tint, although it appeared slightly more blue as the actual rays of the sun had not hit it, yet. Sparse, scraggly vegetation littered the ground around her, while a few taller cacti stood scattered about in the distance, their forms bringing a smile to Elisabet’s lips. It had been so long since she had seen a real one.  


Even farther in the distance, she saw large rock formations, easily stretching a hundred feet or more into the sky, although some looked incredibly short from where she stood, so far away. Part of her wanted to head to the nearest one as fast as she could, grip the rocky surface, and maybe even give a go at climbing a small portion of it. She had always loved getting into trouble climbing on things when she was younger.  


The thought caused the tight feeling to reappear in her chest and she absentmindedly rubbed at a spot just over her sternum, her smile slowly fading. Finally, she let out a heavy sigh, turning her attention to the ground immediately around her.  


It was clear that it was a camp, although it was quite small and basic.  


“ _Only has to provide for one person, after all._ ”  


She shrugged off the blanket on top of the bedroll and immediately shivered, running her hands up and down her bare arms.  


“Have you never heard of sleeves, girl?”  


She quickly found the more insulating outer clothing nearby and pulled it on, already feeling the warmth they provided, clearly having soaked up some of the heat from the nearby fire throughout the night. After checking to make sure any actual semblance of a fire was out, she took a seat on the bedroll, once again, and sighed.  


“Okay, let’s see where we’re at.”  


She reached toward her right ear and found the Focus still affixed in place. With a tap to the outside, the interface sprung to life. The first area Elisabet investigated was the “To Do” list, finding that the entire “In Foreign Lands” task she had set up when searching for the missing soldier was now complete. In its place as the current active task was one that was simply labelled “The City of the Sun.” Her curiosity piqued, she brought up the details, only to frown when it contained a single, short directive: “Go to Meridian.”  


“I just wish I knew where that was.”  


Suddenly, she noticed a symbol in the background and tried to tap on it, but it didn’t seem to work. Curious, she closed the To Do list, but the symbol remained. It appeared to be some kind of yellow, triangular shape, and it took her another few moments to realize that it was overlaid over the actual landscape before her. She turned her head to one side, but the symbol remained over the same landmark in the distance, moving from the center of her vision to the peripheral.  


“I… guess that’s where Meridian is.”  


Ignoring the feature of the Focus that even she had been unaware existed, she entered the data storage sections of the device. A few more text files had appeared since she last remembered looking, and when she opened them she actually laughed out loud. Several of them appeared to be advertisements or articles from various internet sites, most of them akin to the drivel she always saw shared around by her paranoid, conspiracy-driven relatives.  


“What kind of world is this…?” she muttered, shaking her head.  


Finally, she came across a section that was labelled “Journal” and she paused. Her curiosity got the better of her and she opened the folder. Instantly, a long list of entries appeared, stretching back years, seemingly. After scrolling through them for a while, she quickly moved to the bottom, noticing how the date and time stamp seemed to indicate these were the more recent ones. She opened the bottom-most, and most recent, entry and found it was a simple text log, like an actual journal. It almost felt like prying and she felt guilty for a moment, but she quickly forced herself to push past it and started reading.  


“Made my way down from Daytower and into the sands below, heading toward Meridian. I thought the desert was supposed to be hot, but as soon as the sun set the temperature fell greatly. Good thing I packed the fur blanket.”  


Elisabet smirked as she scanned through the brief recap of events and sights seen on the trip down the mountainside from what she presumed was the fort she had seen when talking to the soldiers previously. After another few sentences of that, though, she came across a section that drew her attention, as well as made her eyebrows raise and her heart rate increase.  


“I had another vision, where I seemed to be that woman who spoke to me from the Focus, once. Elisabet Sobeck. I still don’t understand where someone with such a strange name came from, but I’m beginning to believe that it is also a question of ‘when.’”  


The entry briefly described the scenario she had watched with Samina, where she had attempted to confront her during her last episode. She had seen it herself, but reading the description that described Samina as “hostile” and “pushy” made her throat tighten up and she wiped at her eyes with the heels of her hands. Finally, she made it to the bottom, where the last line caught her attention.  


“I want to know what’s going on. Am I crazy? I almost hope the next time I have one of these visions, she will speak to me again.”  


Elisabet sighed, closing the Focus interface and staring out at the open expanse before her. She tapped her fingers on her knees for several moments, feeling the rough leather fabric beneath them, before shaking her head and getting to her feet. It didn’t take her long to pack up all of the items from her camp and figure out how to carry them on her person. The bedroll ended up simply hooking onto a loop on the back of her outer top, hanging just about at the small of her back, the blanket rolled securely inside it.  


She kicked some sand on top of the campfire just to make sure it was firmly out before looking up at the horizon before her, the sun now actually visible above it. A quick check of the Focus interface showed her the destination marker, once again, and she carefully lined it up with landmarks in the real world, so that she was able to close it and still keep herself on track.  


“Just like hiking back home.”  


With a heavy sigh, she set out in the direction the device indicated. The loose, rocky ground around her crunched and crackled under each step, but she quickly came upon a rather well-worn path that appeared to be one of the closest things she had seen to a road so far. It meandered somewhat, but generally seemed to take her in the direction she wanted to go, so she began to move along it.  


As the sun rose higher in the sky, the heat of the day began to rise, as well. While she had been shivering at the camp earlier, she was already beginning to feel beads of sweat appear along the top of her forehead and on her neck, beneath the mane of hair that fell behind her. A slight grimace creased her face as she ran her hand over the skin beneath it, attempting to wipe the damp feeling away.  


“ _This is why I started cutting it short._ ”  


Soon, she was able to ignore the feeling as her eyes took in the sight of the desert coming to life under the orange sun. The sand and rocks glowed with a reddish-orange hue, sharply contrasted by the greens and browns of the plant life scattered about. The sky overhead was still a bright, vibrant blue with almost no hints of clouds as far as she could see. Everything seemed so much like she remembered from before, but also… so much more. As she inhaled deeply, she wrinkled her nose at a slightly musty, dirty smell and glanced down at herself.  


“Guess laundromats and showers aren’t necessarily a thing here, huh?”  


A shiver ran up her spine and she tried carefully not to think too much about the state of her clothing and personal hygiene.  


As she continued along the beaten path, she spotted some rather large, and obviously mechanical, creatures milling about the open ground off to her right. Glancing around, almost as if to make sure no one else was watching, she slipped off into the patches of tall grass nearby and began to make her way closer. As she drew within a hundred feet or so, she crouched down, remaining mostly obscured by the plants around her. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of the mechanical beasts, her brain almost not even comprehending how they seemed to be behaving like a herd of cows, rather than trying to consume and destroy all life around them.  


“Where did you come from?” she muttered beneath her breath.  


The armor-like plating they sported on the outer parts of their bodies seemed to be mostly silver and white in color, and there was no obvious manufacturer markings anywhere on them. As she watched the herd peacefully graze about for several long moments, she remembered earlier when she had come across the Snapmaw and reached up to tap the Focus. A quick scan of the creatures revealed them to be called “Striders” and also identified several weak spots on them. She tilted her head curiously at the mentions of weaknesses and how to fight them, but closed the Focus, regardless.  


“ _I suppose anything can be an enemy, if you intrude on its territory._ ”  


“Incredible,” she murmured, forcing herself to tear her eyes away from the beasts and make her way back to the road she had been travelling along earlier.  


Once back, she continued toward the distant landmark she had identified as more or less lining up with the digital one the Focus projected for her. She saw several more groups of machines, all simply going about their business, although sporting many different designs. With each new one, she eagerly brought up the Focus scan and read as much about them as she could. They were all brilliantly designed, and clearly modelled off of animals she remembered from her own life. In the hour or so that she spent walking, she spotted robot versions of horses, roosters, cows, some kind of crab, and finally one that she recognized from her very first visions and episodes that she could only think to describe as being similar to some kind of dinosaur, perhaps a raptor.  


“Man, Margo would get such a kick out of all these, and if Ted could see what he could have built instead…”  


Her voice trailed off as her eyes glazed over, her steps slowing to a stop. The mere thought of the man engendered such visceral feelings that they quickly threatened to overwhelm her. She forced herself to take several long, deep breaths, before uncurling her hands that had involuntarily clenched into fists. Her head tilted back toward the sky as she took several more deep breaths, although her eyes were fixated on the blue expanse overhead. The tip of the spear lashed to her back peeked into her view on the right and she turned her head slightly, staring at the colorful ribbons attached to it, adding some personal flair to the hunting and fighting tool that felt… almost endearing.  


“ _He wouldn’t get to see these, because I’d stab his fucking eyes out with this thing._ ”  


The thought brought a smile to her lips as she took one last breath through her nose before exhaling slowly and returning her attention to the road before her. She half expected to find herself back in the facility, but she was still presented with the reddish sands and the bright morning sunlight. The smile remained on her lips as she started walking, once again, continuing the journey that felt like had already taken an hour so far.  


The constant motion of simply walking along the path, combined with taking in all of the sights around her, led to her losing track of just how long she had been travelling; it was only when she realized that the large rock formations she had been using as a reference in the distance were now rather close that the actual length of time she had been in this “episode” hit her. She glanced up at the sky to see that the sun was almost directly overhead, and when she turned to look back where she came, she hardly recognized it as where she started.  


“It’s been… hours,” she muttered. “God, I wonder what kind of havoc ‘other me’ has been wreaking…”  


“ _You mean how ‘Aloy’ is faring._ ”  


A strange feeling appeared in her chest at the thought and she absentmindedly rubbed at it, the sensation of the fur and tanned leather clothing still feeling foreign to the touch. With a glance toward the large rock formations ahead, she heaved a heavy sigh and stepped off the beaten path. She quickly found a spot to settle down for a break and took a seat, resting her back against a small boulder. There was no relief from the midday sun, since she couldn’t make out any sort of overhang nearby, but taking the pressure off her feet for a few moments felt nice. The realization that her muscles and body didn’t feel as tired or worn down as she expected came over her and a shiver ran up her spine.  


“ _Guess Aloy is more used to this than I am._ ”  


A slight frown tugged at her lips as she glanced down at herself, specifically reaching across her torso to grip her right bicep with the opposite hand. The muscle beneath the skin was incredibly evident even from slightest touch, and when she clenched her hand into a fist, it only seemed to pop out even more.  


“Christ…”  


She didn’t have to feel herself up all over to know that Aloy was definitely in much better shape than she had ever hoped to be in. With a strange shiver, she folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the rock behind her.  


“ _You look like me, you sound like me, but… you’re not quite me._ ”  


Elisabet shook her head, once again, feeling the braids whip around her and beat against her shoulders as she did. The more she thought about the situation and tried to piece everything together, the less it seemed to make sense. At that moment, Samina’s words came back to her, burned into her conscious so that she heard them as clearly as if they were still in the same room.  


“I’m not sure you actually do want to understand.”  


Her eyes closed tightly in an attempt to block the hot tears that had begun to form in the corners of them, but almost immediately she heard a voice and they shot open, once again, her head lifting up, as well. For a moment, confusion came over her as she stared at the bright lights in front of her and tried to figure out where they had come from, only to realize that they belonged to the console at her desk… back in the facility. She blinked several times in rapid succession as she scanned around the room, searching for the source of the voice. A moment later, she realized that it had stopped and, seeing no one else in the room, she figured it must have been GAIA.  


“Doctor Sobeck?”  


“Yes, GAIA?”  


“You have been in an episode for quite some time.”  


“Y-yeah, tell me about it… H-how long, exactly, GAIA?”  


“I estimate approximately four hours and thirty-two minutes.”  


“Jesus…”  


Elisabet staggered backward slightly, glancing around until she found her chair and pulling it toward her. Her knees felt slightly weak as she took a seat, running her hands over her face.  


“Did you record the entire time?”  


“Some of it I was unable to record visual data for, since you moved through hallways, however there are complete audio logs."  


“Well, four hours is a long time, so I guess let’s see if there are any highlights.”


	17. Four Hours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it was technically by accident that this chapter ended up super long, but I suppose there was a lot of material to cover. Last week we saw Elisabet get a big dose of Aloy's world, so now it's only fair to see the opposite. 
> 
> Also, last week I asked about a "soundtrack" for this story, and I wanted to deliver on that idea/promise, as well. So, without further ado: [TA DAH](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA7KC225dxA&list=PLVPK6kbRVHouEdXe1MN5WBibh_JlZOjmb)  
> Follow the link to check out a Youtube playlist I made of all the songs I made as a "soundtrack." Keep in mind, if you choose to check it out, that these songs represent primarily moods and themes of this story, as I think of them on my own. There aren't necessarily exact sections where I would place these songs, but if I thought about it, I'm sure I could think of them. Feel free to apply them as you see fit, or completely ignore it and not let my random interjections influence exactly how you experience the story.
> 
> Wow this is a long note.

“Elisabet,” GAIA began, the feminine voice softer than usual as Elisabet felt a strange feeling in her chest beginning to form, “are you sure you do not need a few minutes to acclimate, first?”  


A smile pulled at her lips as she sighed and slowly shook her head.  


“I’m good, GAIA.”  


After a moment or two of silence, her Focus activated and she turned around to face the open section of the room. A holographic image of herself appeared, lying flat on thin air, roughly two or three feet off the ground. She almost laughed at first, but the image began to move and she forced herself to remain silent. The holographic Elisabet seemed to freeze for a moment before suddenly pulling herself upright and looking around. Studying her face, the real Elisabet noticed that it did not show any signs of fear or nervousness, or even that much confusion, but perhaps something like curiosity.  


The image glanced down at herself for a moment before looking back up, eyes scanning a room that wasn’t actually there, at the moment. After a few more seconds of silence, a distorted chime sounded in the recording, causing the image to jump in surprise.  


“Good morning Dr. Sobeck. You are up early, even before your alarm.”  


The image looked around for the source of the voice for a few moments before falling still.  


“Guess… I just couldn’t sleep.”  


GAIA’s voice remained silent for several long moments as the image seemed to wait for some kind of response.  


“Would you please check your Focus?”  


Confusion creased the image’s face as she glanced around, quickly fixating on something to her left. She reached toward the empty air and suddenly the Focus device appeared in her hand. She slowly placed it to her ear and jumped as it activated.  


“Hello, again,” Elisabet’s voice came through the two layers of digital distortion, “it’s… been a little while. Honestly, I didn’t know what to say again, so… I took my time.”  


The image of Elisabet stared enraptured at what the real one knew was a holographic recording very similar to the one she was currently viewing. The last sentence from the journal entry she had read in her episode earlier came back to her and she found a small smile pulling at her lips.  


“I… wish that I could actually talk to you… somehow,” the recording continued, “but, well, I think we both know that would be impossible. However, this is the closest thing I can think of, so… I guess this will have to do. If you want, I’m sure GAIA would be able to teach you how to make one of these, yourself.  


“Anyway… as I’m sure you’re aware, we’ve traded places at least one time since my last message. I can’t remember when I actually made the first one, so… it could have been weeks ago, or just the other day. I’m… so sorry that you were thrust into that situation with Samina…”  


The recording trailed off as the real Elisabet noticed how the image’s face changed from something like wonder to discomfort to sympathy, all in the span of a few seconds.  


“I guess, let me back up. The woman with the… light blue scarf around her head is a friend and colleague of mine. Her name is Samina Ebadji. She… is the closest of anyone I know to knowing that something is going on with… well, with us. After that interaction, well… let’s just say I think she’s more than a little clued in.”  


The image’s face now turned to one of nervousness as she crossed her legs in front of her and leaned forward slightly.  


“I… god, I don’t know how to put it… I’m scared—no, frustrated—because I don’t know what’s going on and I can’t explain it. Whatever—this is… it defies anything that seems logically or scientifically possible.”  


Silence followed in the recording for a moment before a crackling sound came through. Elisabet remembered making the recording enough to deduce that it was a heavy sigh, even without being able to see the recording the image of herself was watching.  


“I just wish somehow I knew more about you in order to… figure out how and why this is all happening. I… yeah, I think that’s all I have to say, for now. That other video from before is still saved for you, so feel free to give that a look. You can talk to GAIA, too; she might be of some help. So, until next time… Elisabet Sobeck out.”  


She half-expected the recording to stop, but instead the image of herself continued to move, reaching up toward the Focus beside her right ear. When she tapped it, the sound of it doing something came through the recording, but Elisabet couldn’t see what had happened. A moment later, the slightly distorted voice of GAIA appeared.  


“Query: do you have any questions?”  


The image didn’t jump in surprise, instead she simply glanced around the room before clearing her throat.  


“So… you’re GAIA?”  


“Yes, I am.”  


“You’re… the computer mind that’s been talking to me every time.”  


“I am.”  


“And… I can ask you questions?”  


“If you would like.”  


A small smile tugged at the image’s lips and Elisabet found herself mimicking the gesture, a shiver running down her spine at the thought that it was almost exactly like a mirror.  


“She… uh… Elisabet—” the name sounded clunky and awkward on her tongue, “—said that I could record something like these messages, too?”  


“Yes, it is rather simple.”  


“Could… could you tell me how?”  


The recording paused and Elisabet blinked rapidly.  


“Why did it stop?”  


“I did not feel you needed to be walked through the process of creating a holographic message on your Focus device.”  


She smirked as the image disappeared, only to be replaced by another, this time of her standing, arms folded across her chest.  


“So… all of this is what people usually live in, everyday?”  


“I am not sure what you are referring to when you say ‘all this.’”  


“All this… metal, and… lights,” the image said, waving her hands around at the general environment. “How do people think? How do they sleep? I feel like I can’t stop spinning around to take it all in.”  


Elisabet found herself smiling as a light feeling appeared in her chest.  


“I would not know, myself,” GAIA began, traces of amusement in her tone, “but I would assume it is due to it all being something they are acclimated to at a young age.”  


“Uh…”  


“Acclimated means ‘become used to.’”  


“Got it.”  


Elisabet actually laughed aloud as she leaned back in her chair, idly twisting back and forth.  


“So… people just grew up surrounded by metal all day? I mean, I know they had a lot of it, but there has to be an outside, too, right?”  


Elisabet’s smile faltered slightly as GAIA seemed to hesitate in response. The version of her in the image seemed to pick up on it as well as her shoulders began to droop, slightly.  


“Right?”  


“Yes, there is an outside to this building. It is not safe to enter it, though.”  


“Why?”  


“The climate has been made unsafe for many forms of biological life due to the catastrophic event labeled ‘the Hartz-Timor Swarm’ or ‘the Faro Plague.’”  


The expression on the image’s face was unreadable as she absentmindedly reached up to run her hand through her hair.  


“That sounds… bad.”  


“It is.”  


As the image’s fingers slipped out of her hair, she seemed to jump in surprise before quickly running them through it again and shivering slightly. Elisabet smirked as she noticed the gesture, it being rather similar to any time she touched the mane of braids in her episodes.  


The image of herself moved on to ask other questions about the world in general, and GAIA seemed more than happy to oblige and tell her all about the state of Utah and how it was part of the country of the United States on the continent of North America. The eagerness of the questions and the tone each time she asked one brought back memories of her old house as a child, bombarding her mother with an endless stream much like the recorded version was doing to GAIA. After another minute or two, the recording froze and Elisabet blinked several times, shifting her position.  


“Why did it stop?”  


“The line of conversation and questioning went on for some time, but I did not feel that it was entirely necessary to view all of it.”  


“Okay,” Elisabet said, nodding slowly. “This episode went on for four hours, she can’t have just stayed here the whole time.”  


A strange twinge in her stomach followed her statement referring to the recorded image of herself as a different person, but she quickly forced it aside.  


“No, she did not,” GAIA replied, evidently picking up on Elisabet’s slip of the tongue, as well. “She visited the bathroom nearby, the break room, and the main rooms of HEPHAESTUS and APOLLO.”  


Elisabet perked up at that last statement, slowly rising to her feet.  


“What did she do in those areas?”  


The frozen image of herself changed, suddenly popping to life as she slowly seemed to walk across the room, looking around at whatever space she had actually been standing in when the recording was taken.  


“It’s… almost like a cauldron…”  


“Dr. Sobeck!”  


The image jumped at the voice and spun around, looking for the source, even though the real one knew immediately who it belonged to even though they weren’t visible.  


“What are you doing all the way down here?”  


Suddenly, another figured appeared in the hologram and Elisabet immediately recognized the slight hop in the step of Margo as she came to a stop just in front of the recorded version of herself.  


“Uh… just… checking in,” the recording stammered.  


“Oh, I usually just expected, like, a message or a call,” Margo said, shrugging. “Visiting works, too. Did you want me to show you anything?”  


“Uh… whatever you—er—were mostly recently working on, I guess.”  


Margo hesitated for a moment before shrugging and gesturing for the image of Elisabet to follow her.  


“Come on!”  


The image looked somewhat relieved as she began to follow after, both figures seemingly walking in place in the recording, almost as if they were on a treadmill.  


“So, how’s GAIA doing?”  


“S-she’s good,” the image replied, nodding. “Very helpful, so far.”  


“ _She’s_ helping _you_ now?” Margo said, a hint of amusement in her voice. “I think you might have really outdone yourself this time.”  


She laughed and the image of Elisabet did as well, although it seemed much more stiff and awkward compared to Margo’s genuine reaction.  


“So, what are you most interested in: the functions related to aiding GAIA specifically, or the ones related to actually controlling the robots’ construction?”  


At that, the image of Elisabet seemed to perk up, her eyes snapping toward Margo, although the other woman wasn’t looking, so she quickly tried to hide the expression.  


“Um… I guess the construction.”  


“Okay, let’s go talk to Ahmed over here, then!”  


The recording paused, yet again, and Elisabet blinked. Despite how many times it had happened already, she always kept expecting the scene to continue indefinitely.  


“What happened after that?”  


“Margo showed you what she said, and you… tried to keep up.”  


The hint of amusement in the AI’s tone actually prompted Elisabet to turn to face the floating display that constituted GAIA, currently.  


“Are you mocking me?”  


“It is not truly you, as you have said, correct?”  


Elisabet couldn’t help the laughter as she shook her head, placing her hands over her face.  


“Be nice to Aloy… whoever she is.”  


After a few long moments, she took a deep breath, letting her hands fall into her lap as she fell into her chair, once again, and faced the recording.  


“God, that’s weird… anyway. Anything notable happen after that?”  


“She visited APOLLO.”  


Elisabet swallowed nervously as she rubbed her palms against her pant legs.  


“Is there—?”  


The image of herself suddenly burst into motion, changing positions almost instantly and causing her to jump.  


“A… ‘program’ for learning?” the recording was saying as she looked around whatever space she had been standing in.  


“Correct.”  


The look of anticipation and curiosity was evident in her eyes, even in the purple holographic image as she continued to walk forward. A moment later, another voice stopped her and she jumped slightly in surprise.  


“Dr. Sobeck!”  


Another figure appeared in the projection, coming to a stop in front of her. It wasn’t who Elisabet feared, at first, but she also couldn’t entirely recognize who it was.  


“G-good… uh… how’s it going?” she replied, attempting to recover as easily as possible.  


“Lose track of time around here?” the other person, a man only a little taller than her, teased. “I know the feeling; gets difficult when you don’t see the sun.”  


The recording laughed along but, yet again, it was less enthusiastic than the other person’s.  


“Anyway, come to check up in person, I see.”  


“Yeah, just… needed a little walk.”  


“Understandable. Well, you actually came at a good time. You want to take the program for a bit of a spin?”  


The recording’s face lit up as she shifted her stance slightly, playing with the hem of her top.  


“Yeah, sure.”  


“Follow me.”  


The images began to walk away when they flickered slightly. A moment later, they had snapped to new positions, the man gesturing to something as he stepped aside for Elisabet.  


“Should be all set. Take a seat.”  


Elisabet moved past him and slowly slid into a non-existent chair, her eyes already staring straight ahead at whatever screen was before her.  


“Where do you want to start?”  


“Well… why not the beginning?”  


“I suppose that makes sense.”  


With a chuckle, the man leaned in front of her slightly and typed something into the console.  


“All right, here you go.”  


A moment later, a voice garbled by two layers of digital distortion came through the recording.  


“Hello child, my name is Samina. Today is a big day…”  


The recording of Elisabet seemed visibly uncomfortable at the sight and sound of Samina, but quickly tried to pass it off as the recording continued. As the recording progressed, she moved through some introductory lessons on the planet, itself, as well as some tests on shapes and colors. The recording seemed highly amused by all of it, only stopping when the man from before intervened.  


“Want to see some of the slightly more ‘advanced’ lessons?”  


“Sure, why not? I think I know my colors by now.”  


They both laughed and Elisabet couldn’t help but smile at the genuine sound of her recording’s laughter. It brought a warm feeling to her chest to see her so amused and engaged by what was going on. It was certainly a much easier situation for her than her experiences in Aloy’s life, it seemed.  


The man set up the program to skip to a science lesson at about a high school Biology level, and it quickly became evident that the recording was barely holding on. Despite this, Elisabet was impressed how well she was able to watch the presentations and answer the questions after it. Once she had completed the first unit and audibly sighed in relief, she glanced up at the man.  


“What do you have on history of the world?”  


Elisabet’s heart skipped a beat as she suddenly sat up straight in her chair.  


“That’s unfortunately one of the areas that is less complete, as of now, but we do have some. Let me see… how about Ancient Rome?”  


“Anything more… recent?”  


“Uh… most recent fully-functioning one seems to be… World War One.”  


“Why not?”  


It was obvious to Elisabet that the recorded version was trying to contain her excitement and interest in order to appear casual, but the man didn’t seem to notice. He clearly didn’t know her well enough to detect odd behavior.  


“All right… good to go.”  


The man stepped back and Elisabet watched on baited breath as Aloy moved through the unit on world history around the time of World War One. She watched her face barely able to contain the wide-eyed incredulity at the discussion of such horrific acts and tools of war. Once she had made it through the unit, with noticeably more struggle than she had the science one, she cleared her throat and turned in her chair toward the man.  


“I-I think I’ve given it a good enough test.”  


“Of course, it’s not totally done, but… what did you think of it so far?”  


“Well, if it can te—uh—remind me of all that stuff so quickly, I’d say it’s pretty effective.”  


“High praise,” he replied, laughing as the recording simply smiled, but the real Elisabet could see the tremor in her hand as she reached up to brush some of her hair away from her forehead.  


“Dr. Sobeck,” GAIA’s distorted voice came through the recording, “there is some important work that requires your attention back in your office.”  


“Understood,” the recording said, nodding. “Sorry, looks like I have something I have to get back to.”  


“By all means,” the man said, stepping aside. “Thanks for stopping by, though!”  


“Yeah, it was… enlightening.”  


With that, the recording paused and Elisabet let out a shaky sigh, running both hands through her hair.  


“She did not speak to Dr. Ebadji.”  


A strange feeling appeared in Elisabet’s chest, but she forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat before pushing all of it aside.  


“I figured.”  


With a sigh, she leaned back in her chair, idly twisting back and forth.  


“So… she made it here and then _poof_ , I came back?”  


“We conversed briefly, but it was simply processing things she had already seen.”  


“And how did that go?”  


“She was somewhat shaken by the information witnessed in APOLLO.”  


“I… bet.”  


Elisabet nodded slowly, sighing.  


“So, no more—”  


She was cut short by the image of herself suddenly flickering into existence before her once again, frozen in place. A small cry of surprise escaped her lips as she skidded back an inch or two in her chair, but she quickly recovered.  


“What is this, GAIA?”  


A moment later, the purple-hued image of herself began to move and speak.  


“Um, okay, I… uh, wow, I guess I don’t know what… am I doing this right?”  


“Yes, you are,” GAIA’s voice, filtered through at least two layers of digital distortion, consoled, her tone gentle and encouraging.  


“Um, so, I guess… hello.”  


The image of herself straightened up slightly, her hands running nervously over her stomach and down over the sides of her pant legs.  


“You’ve… spoken to me… two, three times… and… I guess now I can try to speak to you… as—you…”  


A shiver wracked the recording’s body and she ran her hands through her hair, almost every part of her seemingly incapable of remaining still.  


“Um… well, you, uh, somehow figured out my name,” she continued. “I’m Aloy… as weird as that seems right now, saying this… in… not my voice…”  


The recording turned away, pacing several feet as she rubbed at her eyes with one hand. Finally, after a few moments, she sighed and turned back toward the real Elisabet, clearing her throat.  


“I… saw the other video, and… you asked many questions… I… don’t know what exactly you wanted to learn, but… it sounds like you’ve seen my life, like I can see yours, and… I think I want to understand, too.”  


She paused for several long seconds before shifting her stance, her fingers fidgeting with each other in front of her.  


“I’ve seen you before… not just in these… visions. You were in the message from the Focus I took from the killers who attacked the Proving. You… look so much like me… or do I look like you?”  


The real Elisabet began to rise from her chair as the image stared contemplatively ahead, eyes not really focused on anything in particular.  


“Who are you? Are you… somehow… my mother?”  


The recording froze as the feeling of ice water pouring through her veins came over Elisabet and she physically staggered back a step. Her eyes were wide, staring directly into the purple-hued reflection of the hologram, the expression there much more confused and… perhaps yearning.  


“Elisabet—”  


“GAIA, what is this?” she interrupted, her eyes still glued to the recording’s face.  


“It is the message the ‘alternate you’ recorded during your episode.”  


“I—I figured that,” she said, her fingers clenching into tight fists at her sides. “But… Jesus…”  


She turned away from the image, running her shaking hands through her hair, the sound of her pulse in her ears loud enough to drown out whatever the AI had said to her. The lights from the various displays around her seemed much brighter than usual, almost entirely drowning out her vision in a sea of blues, purples, reds, and bright whites. Finally, after a few long moments, the sound of a voice started to break through the barrier that had seemingly gone up around her, her eyes slowly being drawn to the one splash of yellow amidst the bright lights. She blinked slowly and was vaguely aware of the sight of red sand and blue skies before the next blink revealed the glowing orb that constituted the visualization of GAIA.  


“Elisabet, please say something.”  


The tone sounded so pleading that it tore at her heart and she quickly cleared her throat.  


“I—I’m sorry, GAIA. I… it was a lot at once.”  


“That is okay, Elisabet,” the AI continued, sounding relieved. “I did not mean to distress you so by showing you the recording.”  


“No, it’s fine,” she said quickly. “Thank you for showing me. I… just wasn’t expecting what she said.”  


“Query: which part of the message caused such an emotional reaction from you?”  


“Take a wild guess.”  


“If I were able to make one, I would have no need to ask you the question.”  


“ _I bet you would anyway, though._ ”  


A smirk pulled at Elisabet’s lips for a moment before she cleared her throat.  


“Well, it’s not every day I get asked if I’m someone’s mother.”  


Even just saying the word aloud, herself, sent a shiver down her spine, but she didn’t feel as if she were about to spiral out of control like she had a moment ago.  


“I also did not expect such a question, based on previous interactions.”  


Elisabet simply nodded slowly, taking a seat on the edge of her desk in an effort to take some of the weight off her shaking knees.  


“So… that sends us right back to square one with ideas,” she remarked.  


“Query: what do you mean by this?”  


“I mean… if she were… me, somehow… my mother and I don’t look that exactly alike, so, I don’t think I’d make that mistake or wonder what’s going on.”  


“Query: do you have an alternate idea, instead?”  


“Well…”  


Images of decaying, twisted hunks of metal jutting into the sky passed before her eyes, the carcasses of skyscrapers that looked so familiar for some reason bringing a chill over her and forcing her to rub at her upper arms subconsciously.  


“There was… something else I saw, in one of these episodes,” Elisabet began quietly, “that I don’t think I told you about.”  


GAIA remained silent as she took a deep breath, replacing her hands on the edge of the desk to help ensure her balance.  


“I saw… a city… one that I swear I’ve seen before, but…”  


A long paused followed as she continued to stare at the floor a foot or two in front of her, eyes glassy and unfocused.  


“It was destroyed… decayed, even… like it had been left to rot for years… decades, centuries even.”  


“You said you recognized this city?”  


“I… think so? I can’t seem to place exactly where it is, but… it’s a strong feeling.”  


“You saw it in ruins, though?”  


“Yeah…”  


“Query: how does this relate to the message you just viewed?”  


Elisabet let out a shaky sigh as she finally lifted her eyes from the floor, looking over at the AI’s console.  


“I think in addition to… figuring out _how_ whatever is happening is—happening… and _who_ this Aloy is… I think there’s maybe the question of _when._ ”


	18. An Answer to When

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it late or is it early if I'm posting at almost 4 AM? I've been up all night so I'll say late for my sanity. Anyhoo, another long chapter this week. The title's pretty self explanatory, so buckle up for the ride.
> 
> Also, if you missed it before and are still interested, check the previous chapter for the link to a Youtube playlist that I've put together as an "official" companion soundtrack to this entire story.

The shower had been on for an exorbitant amount of time by the military-style standards everyone in the facility had been adhering to for the past several months, but Elisabet couldn’t find it in herself to care at that moment. The hot water flowing over her hair and spreading across her shoulders seemed to finally relax some of the tension that had built up in her muscles from earlier in that day, alone. With a heavy sigh, she lifted her face and ran her hands over it, the hot temperature stinging at first, but quickly turning relaxing. A moment or two later, she hit the panel to turn off the water and was left in the sudden quiet of the bathroom, the only sounds the patter of water droplets as they fell onto the white-plastic floor. Her eyes closed for a moment as she inhaled deeply, drawing in the hot, humid air that had built up in the enclosed space, before letting it out and turning to the door. The foggy glass slid aside and she groped along the wall to the right for the towel she had brought with her.  


Once she had dried off, she wrapped it around herself and stepped into the main part of the bathroom, shivering at the cold floor under her bare feet. As she approached the mirror, she reached out to wipe away the steam that had accumulated on it. For a second after she had wiped away the haze, she swore she saw the youthful face and mane of hair that she had seen in the mirror in her first major episode, but a blink later the image was replaced with her usual reflection. A sigh escaped her lips as she frowned slightly.  


“ _I remember when that was just my normal reflection… kind of._ ”  


Laughing softly at the thought, she took a swig of mouthwash and placed the bottle back on the edge of the sink. As she swished it inside her mouth, she pulled on her sleeping clothes, finally throwing the damp towel over her shoulder. The slightly harsh taste of the mouthwash caused her to spit several times into the sink in an attempt to get rid of it, but it still remained ever so faintly.  


Once she had gathered anything of hers from the communal bathroom, she made her way back to her quarters, yawning as she stepped through the doorway and let it slide close behind her. She barely had enough energy to drop her towel and clothing from the day in a pile near the open crate of all her belongings before falling onto her bed, arms spread to either side of her.  


“Query: is everything all right?”  


She laughed softly, even as her eyes remained closed.  


“Yeah, just… the small things that remind me of normal life have really helped today.”  


“Systems indicate you did take a shower that was much longer than average.”  


“And I don’t even feel bad about it,” she muttered, grinning.  


“It should not upset any major systems, so it is not a problem to the facility, at large.”  


“Shh… I wanted to feel like I was doing something bad.”  


An actual laugh escaped her as she rolled onto her side, reaching for her Focus. She didn’t open her eyes to see if she actually placed it on her makeshift nightstand, but she also felt that she didn’t care. GAIA could still talk to her in her quarters without it, anyway, if there was a problem.  


“Goodnight, Elisabet.”  


A small smile pulled at her lips as she mumbled something that could have been “goodnight,” but she didn’t even believe it had contained any real words, herself. As she drifted off to sleep, images of wide open expanses of ground and bright-red sunrises flashed before her, but she knew they were simply dreams, memories of a time long past. She dreamt of her mother, as well, but instead of bringing a pang of sadness, as thoughts of her usually did, she only felt warmth and happiness. They had gone on so many hiking trips and outdoor adventures when she little, her mother largely being the catalyst for her concern toward the natural world around her. In her dreams, she saw her mother holding a duckling that had gotten separated from its siblings and mother at the edge of a pond, pointing out a vixen with her cubs, and showing her how to hold carrots in the palm of her hand to feed a horse.  


All of it was so different from the usual dreamless sleep she had been experiencing for months, and she cherished all of it. After several more dreamscapes of adventures at the family ranch and even some of old friends she hadn’t seen in years, she suddenly found herself standing on a hillside, the scenery not immediately familiar. A moment later, a small child stormed into view, kicking at rocks and muttering under her breath. It took her a moment or two to realize that she was wearing clothing similar to what she had found herself in during her episodes and she began to study the girl more closely.  


She was stopped in her tracks as a flash of motion came from her left and she recoiled, letting out a cry of pain. One of her hands shot to her forehead as she looked at something past Elisabet, but she got the sense that her eyes were looking right through her. As she turned around, she saw a group of children about the same age as the girl at the bottom of the hill, led by a blonde boy who was currently lifting a rock in his right hand, a smug grin on his face.  


Anger flared in Elisabet’s chest for a moment, but she had a feeling that even if she yelled, none of them would hear her. The boy brought his arm back and loosed another rock at the girl below him, but just before Elisabet thought it would strike her head, she raised her hand and caught it in mid-air. The children’s surprised reactions behind her sounded almost as incredulous as she felt, herself. The blonde boy scrambled for another rock as the girl at the bottom of the hill drew her arm back. For a moment, she thought she would hurl it at the boy’s head, as he had clearly done to her a moment ago, but instead it collided with the new rock in his hand, knocking it aside harmlessly.  


The incredulous looks on the nearby children’s faces only grew greater as Elisabet noted the satisfied smirk on the other girl’s face. A moment later, a strong, deep voice called out and she glanced in the direction she thought it had come from, something telling her she already knew what it had said, even if she hadn’t been paying attention.  


“Aloy!”  


A rather large, intimidating man carrying a wicked spear and bow similar to the ones she had used, herself, in her episodes appeared, walking briskly through the underbrush toward the small, redheaded girl. She began to look back toward him, but as her vision passed over where Elisabet was standing, she seemed to hesitate, locking eyes with the older woman for a moment. A strange feeling shot through her, even as the girl began to turn away. A voice, older than the child’s but younger than her own, suddenly echoed in her head, although the speaker was nowhere in sight.  


“Are you my mother?”  


Elisabet awoke with a start, although her eyes remained closed. She breathed heavily through her nose for several seconds before beginning to stretch her arms and legs. As she did, she felt the stiffness that seemed to have settled in them overnight. A soft groan escaped her lips as she began to roll onto her back.  


“Getting old sucks.”  


Immediately, she froze in place. Her voice, or rather the voice that had just come out of her mouth…  


Her eyes shot open and she was immediately greeted with a canopy of green overhead, bright patches shining through in an intricate latticework that was most definitely not anything found in the facility. She blinked several more times before turning her head to look around her. What she had first assumed was her bed seemed to be a large sling made out of some kind of cloth, almost like burlap. As she shifted slightly, she felt the surface beneath her move and shake somewhat unsteadily and she froze until it stopped moving. One hand carefully reached up toward the edge to her right, her fingers extending over it to find that she could only feel empty air next to it. Carefully, she lifted her head to look over the side and didn’t see ground immediately beside her, instead it appeared to be at least several feet below her.  


“Hammock?” she muttered, still feeling groggy as her mind tried to process everything she had seen in the past thirty seconds or so.  


A quick glance down at herself revealed the leather and fur clothing she had somewhat grown accustomed to, at this point.  


“ _Okay, back again so soon…_ ”  


She cleared her throat and began to sit upright, taking care not to accidentally dump herself over the side in the process. The “bed” shook and swayed somewhat unsteadily and she was reminded of trying to stand up in a canoe. Eventually, she had pulled herself up enough to see over the edge of the hammock. She was only five or six feet in the air, but the surprise of not being on the ground was still enough to make her feel uneasy. Each end of the large sling was tied to rather branches that were almost as thick around as her, each extending from an enormous tree that seemed somewhat unlike any type she would expect to see in the mountains or desert she had seen thus far.  


With even more care, she managed to turn sideways on the hammock and took a deep breath. One final push later, and she fell to the ground, landing in a crouch on the surprisingly soft surface. Something hit her across her back and she whirled around, heartbeat racing. A few moments later, she looked down and realized that it was the spear she had used several times; evidently, it had been inside the hammock with her the whole time.  


“Guess you can never be too careful,” she muttered, swiping it off the ground in front of her.  


As she rose to a standing position and surveyed her surroundings, she began to notice just how hot the area was, already. The humidity hung thick in the air, and for a moment she was reminded of the visits she had made to the rainforests of South America while working for…  


Her teeth ground together as she quickly forced the memory out of her mind and looked back up at the hammock overhead. Hanging near one side of it was a somewhat lumpy sack that appeared to be made of a similar, burlap-esque material. She could see the tip of what seemed to be the bow she had also used several times sticking out of the top, and quickly set about getting it down. Within only a few minutes, she had managed to take down both the sack and the hammock, itself. She quickly figured out why she had woken up in one, though, as she brushed various kinds of bugs off her legs and anything that kept touching the ground.  


“The side of nature sometimes I’m almost glad I forgot.”  


The sack revealed all of her various weapons and tools that would have made sleeping in the hammock difficult, and provided a convenient space to store it, once it had been rolled up tightly. With everything squared away, she stood up straight and stretched. As she activated her Focus, she found that her goal of “Go to Meridian” was still the topmost concern She turned almost entirely around before finding the marker indicating which direction she should head and taking a deep breath.  


“Onward, I guess.”  


Before she could get started, however, something made her pause and she reopened the Focus interface. She quickly flipped through the various folders and menus until she came upon the journals, once again. At the bottom, a new one had appeared, dated a day or so after the previous. She quickly opened it, already past feeling like she was spying on someone else. The text inside brought a smile to her face as she read the excited rambling of Aloy about the sights she had seen and people she had spoken to during the “vision” the day before. As she reached the end of the entry, the last sentence made her stop, her eyes widening slightly as her heart skipped a beat.  


“If you’re reading this, Elisabet Sobeck, open the video in the new folder thing GAIA told me about.”  


She quickly backed out to the previous menu and found that there was, indeed, a new folder that was labelled “Speaking Journals.” Opening it revealed a single video file in it, so far, dated the same as the journal she had just read. Her hand hesitated as she reached toward it before finally closing the gap and tapping the icon. A moment later, the purple-tinged image of what seemed to be her younger self appeared before her, clearing her throat as she lowered her hand from interacting with whatever interface she had clearly been using to make the recording.  


“Hello, uh, I guess,” she began, the voice instantly sending shivers down Elisabet’s spine. “I’m hoping you saw the other one of these the, uh, computer mind, GAIA, had me make while I was… uh, you, I guess.”  


The image rubbed the back of her neck nervously for a moment before taking a deep breath and relaxing her shoulders.  


“So, I… guess this is me. You’ve probably already seen and know that, but… well, just because I’ve seen your reflection in your world doesn’t mean it really felt like you.”  


The image shuffled her foot across the ground slightly before clearing her throat.  


“Anyway, I guess to continue what I said, a bit, I’m Aloy, sort of from the Nora, and… this is my life, I guess. I… have so many questions for you, as well and… I guess this is the only way we could ‘speak.’ There’s so much I’ve seen in your life that I can’t seem to comprehend, and… I want to know why I’ve seen you before.”  


Elisabet subconsciously rubbed her clammy palms against the sides of her skirt, eyes still locked on the image before her.  


“Why would someone here want to kill me just because I look like you? Are you… my mother? I already said that… back in… your world… Where are you from, and… why are you so important? You said you were a… ‘scientist,’ once… is that why?”  


The image seemed to stare straight at Elisabet for a moment or two before sighing.  


“Maybe a good question would also be: _when_ are you from… in relation to me? So… I guess, see or hear from you, soon.”  


With that, she reached forward and the image froze in mid-air, hand outstretched toward an interface that Elisabet couldn’t actually see, herself. She let it remain for a few moments, slowly stepping forward and staring at the face of the recording, her brain still trying to process how she could be staring at such a spitting image of herself. The phrase Aloy had asked her at the end of the video in the facility started to echo and bounce about her head, one word in particular growing louder and louder.  


“ _Mother._ ”  


She quickly shook her head, closing the Focus interface.  


“No, that doesn’t make any sense, Lis,” she muttered. “How the hell would you have a kid that… somehow ended up here? Wherever _here_ —or _when_ —this is…”  


Suddenly, something occurred to her and she reopened the Focus interface, navigating back to the journal entries. When she opened the video folder, she didn’t try to watch it again, but simply looked at the date that was automatically assigned to it from the Focus. She had only really paid attention to the numbers as a means of differentiating the files, but when she finally found it and paid attention to the meaning of them, her heart nearly came to a complete stop as her mouth fell open. A chill fell over her entire body as she physically staggered back a step or two, the interface moving with her and creating a slightly dizzying feeling.  


“Th-that can’t… that can’t be right!” she exclaimed aloud, not caring if anyone or anything was nearby.  


Her eyes were glued to the small numbers just below the actual file, itself. Eight digits that uprooted any idea she had of what was going on, or where she was.  


9/3/3019.  


“Th-three… three thousand…”  


She was barely aware that she had backed into the trunk of the tree the hammock had hung from earlier, but the world slowly began to slide up around her as she sank into a seated position. The interface from the Focus closed as she absentmindedly tapped her hand against the device, her eyes still staring straight ahead, their surface glassy and her pupils wide.  


“Th-this… nothing makes sense… how…? What… where is this place…? What’s happening to me?”  


After several long moments, she blinked and her eyes came into focus, once again, her hands clenching into fists around the soft material of her skirt. She pushed herself to her feet, one hand immediately shooting to the Focus, once again, and activating its interface. Moments later, she stood in front of a screen with a single question facing her.  


“Begin recording?”  


She quickly reached up and tapped the icon beside the message and it disappeared, replaced with a timer that began to count up from zero.  


“Hey, Aloy, it’s… well, it’s clearly not you, so it must be Elisabet. I… I’m sick of just bouncing back and forth with each of us not knowing what to say to the other and not actually answering any questions, so… I want to get down to it. I want to know about this world that you live in. It seems… so similar to things that I remember from my own, yet… well, let’s just say that there weren’t robot animals walking around from what I can remember. Who or what are the Nora and why are you ‘sort of’ from them or it? I saw a… destroyed city… big metal buildings jutting into the sky, covered in plants and mostly destroyed… what happened to it? What happened to everything around here? _Where_ is here?!”  


Elisabet paused, taking a deep breath through her nose as she ran one hand back through the mane of braids and hair behind her.  


“I would ask _when_ this is all happening, but… I found that out myself. I… I can’t believe it myself, but… Jesus, I just don’t know…”  


She stared down at her feet for a moment or two before looking up at the recording message, once again.  


“So, I already told you I’m from the year 2066, and… well, if this Focus isn’t damaged and lying to me, it’s almost a thousand years _after_ that here, so… I don’t know how the hell I could be your m—”  


A ball in her throat actually halted her mid-word for a moment before she was able to swallow it down and continue.  


“I don’t know how I could be your mother, but… you look almost exactly like me. For all intents and purposes, you seem to _be_ me…”  


Elisabet trailed off, rubbing her eyes with one hand while the other came to rest on her hip, the pressure from it just enough for her to be acutely aware of its position.  


“You said once in one of your ‘visions,’ as you call them, something about my life being ‘before the metal devil’… what does that mean? What is that and what does it mean if you come… after that?”  


Elisabet let her arm fall to her side as she stared up at the recording interface for several long moments before heaving a heavy sigh and beginning to reach toward the “stop” button.  


“I guess that’s probably good enough for now. I’m sure I’ll have more after I hear a little bit from you. Elisabet out.”  


With that, she stopped the recording, bringing up a message that asked if she wanted to review it. After a moment’s hesitation, she opted not to, and simply saved it in the “Speaking Journals” folder that she had seen earlier. With that out of the way, she closed all of the various menus within the interface, leaving her with just the web of lines and the marker that indicated where she needed to go. As she stared at the yellow diamond, she realized that there was a number indicated below it and she tilted her head slightly in confusion. She took a few steps forward and found that it had gone down, changing from 420 to 419.  


“Wait… is that how far it is?” she muttered. “Like some kind of GPS?”  


She gathered the things from her “camp” and began to walk toward the yellow diamond as the numbers continued to fall at a relatively rapid rate. The interface remained open as she began to pick up her pace, striding quickly through the thick foliage, taking care not to bump into too many trees or large plants as she did. She became aware that a large, rock wall stood to her left and followed along it, since the indicator had moved to show that she had to apparently go through it. As the number quickly approached the 250 mark, she noticed the heavy jungle-like environment beginning to thin out. The dense underbrush was giving way to more dirt, grass, and open ground, while the trees became farther and farther apart, their leaves allowing more sunlight to reach the actual ground.  


A minute or two later, she reached what appeared to be the edge of the forested area she had been travelling through and found a dirt path between two large, rocky formations that led into an open, grassy area. As she stepped onto the trail and turned to look toward where the yellow indicator sat over the world around her, she stopped in her tracks, her mouth hanging open.  


After a moment or two, her hand shot up to turn off the Focus interface, almost expecting the image before her to disappear, as well, but it remained as the web of purples and blues disappeared.  


“That’s… real.”  


Her eyes locked onto the towering stone structures and vibrant colors of the city on top of a large mesa that seemed to have sprung from thin air. Small wisps of smoke curling over the rooftops told her that it was actually inhabited, unlike the ruined skyscrapers she had seen before, and she could faintly make out motion along its outer edges, almost like ants marching along a ledge from this distance. The goal from her “to do” list came back to her and she quickly found what she could only assume was the name of this city on her lips.  


“Meridian.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I confess, I'm pretty sure I got the idea for Aloy sleeping in a hammock in the jungle from Writerly's story "Second Dawn." It seemed to make sense, so I kind of repurposed it for myself. I know this story has been a lot of build so far, but that will start to pay off soon as some more fast-paced things are going to start happening in the coming chapters. We're not close to the end, by any means, but this train is starting to really pick up speed. See y'all next week!


	19. Keeping it Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Monday again... y'all know what that means. I tagged certain characters for a reason, and now you're beginning to see why. Enjoy, and see why the chapter has this particular title; hopefully you can, too.

As soon as she had a chance to take in the sight of the city, it was replaced by that of a white surface only a foot or two away from her. She blinked rapidly in surprise for a second or two before her other senses seemed to catch up to her vision. Something steady and rhythmic filled the air as she became aware of the rather humid climate; it had been easy to overlook, at first, since it was so similar to the one she had just been in after waking up in the hammock. A glance around her revealed what she had guessed: she was standing in the bathroom with the shower running; she was still fully clothed, but she noticed that her hands were wet. Frowning slightly, she shook them off before inspecting the rest of the room. Of course, there was no towel or other clothes with her and she quietly laughed under her breath.  


“I guess this sort of thing is new for her.”  


With a sigh, she turned the water off and wiped her hands on her pants before returning to her quarters. She quickly changed into her regular clothes before sighing and glancing around the room. After a few moments of searching, she frowned.  


“Where the hell is…”  


Her hand reached up toward her right ear only to find the feeling of the small, triangular, metal device under her fingers a moment later. The interface activated and she jumped slightly in surprise before blinking several times and searching through the various menus. There didn’t appear to be any new files of any type, which caused her to frown.  


“ _You didn’t have time to make any other videos or anything before you fell asleep, what did you expect?_ ”  


With a sigh, she tried to push away the feeling of disappointment before an electronic chime sounded inside the room.  


“Good morning Dr. Sobeck, did you decide not to take another shower, after all?”  


“No, _mother,_ ” she quipped, smirking, “seeing as I took one last night, it didn’t seem necessary.”  


“Query: is referring to me as your mother what you call sarcasm?”  


Elisabet actually burst out laughing and fell against the wall behind her, patting her hand against her chest and trying to bring herself under control.  


“Yes, GAIA, it is.”  


There was no way to actually see the AI’s “face,” but she could only imagine the confused look she must have, if she were actually a person.  


“I am not sure I fully understand all of the intricacies of this form of communication, but I have begun to understand how to identify it.”  


“Like I said before, the day an AI truly understands humor and sarcasm—”  


“Is one you are truly afraid of.”  


Elisabet just nodded, taking several deep breaths before pushing away from the wall.  


“Okay, the world doesn’t stop for me, unfortunately,” she said, “gotta get to work and all that.”  


“I believe you have already started.”  


Elisabet froze in her tracks halfway to the door, her heart rate beginning to escalate while a feeling of confusion arose in her mind.  


“What do you mean?”  


“Records indicate you have already sent messages this morning.”  


Her eyes widened as she opened her Focus interface and navigated to her messages menu. Sure enough, there were several near the top that listed that they had been “replied to” already, when she didn’t even recognize reading them, in the first place.  


“Oh fuck.”  


She opened the topmost one from Samina and quickly scanned through it. The other woman was simply asking about setting up a meeting to talk over lunch, but below it was a reply seemingly from Elisabet. It was short, to the point, and had no sign-off or signature.  


“Yes, sounds good.”  


“My god,” Elisabet groaned, backing out into the main menu and checking the other two messages that had replies on them.  


All of the messages were formatted similarly, clearly written by someone who actually didn’t know how to communicate in such a way.  


“ _I guess I can just say that I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet._ ”  


“GAIA?”  


“Yes, Elisabet?”  


“Why didn’t you stop her?”  


“Stop whom?”  


“You know who.”  


There was a momentary pause before the AI answered.  


“I had no reason to suspect that you were experiencing another episode.”  


Elisabet groaned as she ran her hands over her face slowly.  


“She’s getting more subtle, great.”  


“Query: do you believe this is a bad turn of events?”  


“It’s going to possibly raise some hell for me.”

 

The last person she had wanted to run into after her apparent message streak earlier in the morning just so happened to be the only person in the break room when she arrived. A sinking feeling appeared in her gut, but she quickly tried to hide it as Travis shot her a smirk, turning around to lean against the counter as she approached his makeshift coffeepot.  


“Well, rise and shine Lis.”  


She grumbled something unintelligible as she reached around him for a coffee mug.  


“I would ask if you slept well, but… well, I think I know already.”  


“Is this how you treat all of your bosses?”  


“I ain’t really ever had no boss except myself,” he shot back. “Well, except for that one guy at the burger joint I worked at in high school… shockingly, he didn’t think highly of me.”  


“Truly shocking.”  


Elisabet poured herself some coffee from the pot in the sink and blew on it for several seconds before even attempting to take a sip.  


“What are you doing up so early?”  


“Couldn’t sleep,” he shrugged. “Was working on some stuff last night that just didn’t want to fit together and it bugged me.”  


“I thought that was just what happened to your code.”  


Travis raised his eyebrows at her as a grin began to tug at his lips.  


“Never too early to take shots at me, I see how it is.”  


“It’s only fair in return for your comments earlier.”  


“I ain’t said nothing that bad to you.”  


“It was in the subtext.”  


He just shook his head as he grabbed his mug from beside him and took a long sip from it.  


“I figured you’d be up this early, but I didn’t expect a reply to my message quite so fast,” he continued.  


Elisabet shifted uncomfortably but attempted to hide it by taking a drink from her mug. Immediate regret followed as the scalding liquid hit her lips and she grimaced.  


“Sorry, I hadn’t had my morning caffeine yet.”  


“It did seem a tad short.”  


“I don’t know what you were expecting.”  


Travis simply shrugged, taking another sip from his coffee. After a long, uncomfortable moment of silence, Elisabet sighed.  


“Well, I guess since you have me here, now… is there anything you needed that you can talk about here?”  


Travis gave her a weary look out of the corner of his eye as he slowly set his mug down on the counter.  


“Are you all right, Lis?”  


“Excuse me?”  


“You ain’t been actin’ yourself all mornin’.”  


Elisabet could feel heat rising in her cheeks as her fingers curled tightly around the mug in her hands, only relaxing when the sensation of the hot surface finally seemed to breach the cloud of anger that had surrounded her.  


“I think you aren’t a psychologist and I don’t need to justify anything like that to you, of all people.”  


Travis simply stared back at her for a few long moments before grabbing his cup from beside him.  


“You know, you’re right. Sorry to step out of line, _boss._ ”  


With that, he moved past her, although Elisabet didn’t turn around to watch him go. As she heard the sound of the door close behind him, she fell against the counter, hanging her head as her grip dangerously loosened on the mug in her hands. Her eyes closed tightly as she felt something hot building in the corners of them.  


“Why did you have to act like that, Lis?”  


Her head tilted back until it came to rest against the cupboard door behind her, finally forcing her eyes open.  


“You don’t have to win friends, but you sure as hell can’t make anyone here hate you.”  


She attempted to wipe her eyes against the inside of her elbow, but was largely unsuccessful. Placing the mug on the counter beside her, she quickly ran her hands over them, instead. As her fingers fell away and her eyes slid open, she was confronted with the image of a man in rather medieval-looking armor, the look seemingly clashing with the Mohawk-style haircut he also sported. She jumped in surprise, only to hear the sound of something breaking and her head snapped around to look down to her left. It took her another few moments to fully comprehend that the image she was looking at was the coffee mug she had just been drinking out of, now in pieces on the floor.  


“Shit, not again…”  


She slapped herself on the cheek and shook her head, blinking rapidly, but no other intrusive images appeared.  


“Can you keep it together for even five minutes?”  


As she searched for a towel of some sort to clean up the mess, she heard the sound of the door open and glanced over her shoulder quickly. The first thing she noticed from her cursory glance was a splash of bright blue and she immediately didn’t have to see anything else to know who had entered the room.  


“Is everything okay?”  


Elisabet sighed, closing the cupboard before her as she stared down at the counter.  


“Guess I’m more tired than I thought,” she replied, turning to face the other woman and gesturing at the floor in front of her. “Dropped my mug.”  


Samina glanced down at the floor quickly before returning her attention to Elisabet. Their eyes met for several long seconds before she felt herself deflate, leaning against the counter beside her and rubbing her eyes with one hand, yet again. The other woman didn’t say anything, but she heard footsteps approaching and a moment later another cupboard opened. She looked over her fingers to see Samina crouching down with a towel of some sort in hand, wiping up the coffee and broken pieces of mug. Wordlessly, she grabbed some of the largest ones and handed them back to Elisabet, who began to collect them on the countertop next to her.  


After a minute or two of work, the worst of the mess seemed to have been dealt with, and Samina rinsed the towel off in the sink several times before draping it over the front edge to dry. She turned to face Elisabet as the redhead found herself lowering her gaze, once again.  


“Thanks,” she mumbled, folding her arms over her chest.  


“I’m not mad at you.”  


Elisabet froze for a moment, finally forcing herself to blink and look up at her.  


“W-what?”  


“After the other day, with the incident in your office… I’m not mad at you, at least not anymore. I was—and kind of still am—disappointed.”  


“That… came through loud and clear.”  


Samina sighed, fidgeting with one end of her headscarf slightly.  


“I… didn’t know what to make of that whole situation—I still don’t—and I didn’t handle it exceptionally well. I will admit, I was rather… aggressive.”  


Elisabet remained silent, forcing herself to maintain eye contact with the other woman.  


“But, I don’t think any less of you because of it. I… can see that you’re scared, and I completely understand. It’s… I don’t know what I expected after what you had first told me, but… well, I still wasn’t quite ready for that.”  


Samina took a tentative step closer.  


“I want to help you, if I can, and… I want to understand, too. I can help you with that much, at least.”  


Elisabet tried to force herself to speak, but no words seemed to come to her and she was left with her mouth hanging open silently. Finally, she closed it and cleared her throat.  


“ _Come on, you can say simple words, if all else is failing you right now._ ”  


“I… thank you, Samina.”  


The other woman seemed somewhat relieved after she had finally spoken, but she still maintained the intensity of her eye contact.  


“That… I admire you wanting to help, but… I just don’t want you to get in too deep… bite off more than you can chew, and all that.”  


“At the very least, if I can understand some of what’s going on, I can try to help you around the others.”  


Elisabet stared back at her with a look that must have been something like shock or surprise because Samina quickly attempted to explain.  


“I-I’ve noticed how you’re trying to keep all of this hidden from everyone else, but… you remember the incident in the meeting, I presume. If this starts to become something that affects you at random times…”  


“I am… _extremely_ aware of that idea,” Elisabet interjected, her voice quavering slightly, “and… you’re right.”  


It felt like she had to wrench the last two words out of her chest with all of the strength she could muster, but once they were out, she somehow felt… better?  


“It would be nice to have someone else to help kind of guide things in case… well, _that_ , happens again.”  


Samina offered a small smile as Elisabet nodded slowly. After a moment or two, the other woman stepped forward, holding her arms out slightly. She laughed softly at the gesture but stepped forward and returned the offered hug. Once they backed away, they stood in silence for several long moments, leaning against the counter.  


“So… do you remember reading my message this morning?”  


Elisabet gave her an admonishing look and Samina grinned.  


“Maybe I just hadn’t had my coffee yet, huh?”  


“While that may be true,” Samina said, glancing down at the broken pieces of the coffee mug on the countertop beside them, “somehow I doubt that’s the whole story.”  


She didn’t say anything, but slowly folded her arms over her chest and stared vacantly at the ground by her feet.  


“Elisabet…”  


“I know, I know… but you already know the answer to that.”  


Samina nodded slowly as both of them fall into a slightly uncomfortable silence, once again.  


“I’ll check in with you every once in a while throughout the day, make sure everything’s good, okay?”  


Elisabet let out a heavy sigh and looked up at the other woman, finally.  


“Yeah, sure, sounds good.”  


In an attempt to offset her deflated tone, she offered a small smile, which Samina returned with one of her own.  


“Are we still meeting over lunch, too?”  


Samina looked confused for a second as the look of amusement grew on Elisabet’s face.  


“You know, the one you asked me about this morning…?”  


“Oh… right.”  


They both laughed as Elisabet finally let her arms fall from their tightly folded configuration.  


“I mean, if you want to…”  


“Sure, let’s do lunch.”  


Laughter broke out between them, once again, before she sighed and turned to the mess on the countertop beside them.  


“I’ll clean the rest of this shit up. Thanks for the—uh—help.”  


Samina nodded and moved to step around her, heading for the cabinet where the rest of the intact mugs were stored. As soon as Elisabet focused on the shards of porcelain in front of her, however, she was confronted with the image of the same man from before.  


“Targeted? What do you mean?”  


Elisabet recoiled slightly in confusion, blinking rapidly.  


“Uh…”  


Before his look of confusion could grow deeper, however, she suddenly found herself standing at the counter, once again, although she was now a good step or two away from it.  


“Did you drop something?”  


Samina’s voice came from off to her left, but when she turned her head to look over at her, she was confronted with the image of a sweeping landscape far below her, a thick forest stretching out across the lower ground while imposing walls of red rock rose up around the outer edges. The entire scene was lit in an eerie, silver moonlight. A moment later, however, she was back in the break room, Samina’s concerned expression staring back at her.  


“D-drop something?” she managed.  


Before the other woman could respond, the sound of a man’s voice prompted her head to snap around and face forward, once again.  


“What are you talking about? That doesn’t make sense.”  


“I—uh—it…”  


The next moment, a wave of nausea flared in her stomach and she staggered slightly, breathing heavily. A very different voice suddenly cut through the haze that seemed to have fallen over her, and it took her a second or two to realize that it was Samina’s. Her knees felt weak and she staggered forward, throwing her hands out in front of her; instead of colliding with the man who had just been speaking to her, she found a hard, metal surface beneath them. The polished, silver basin before her seemed to shine incredibly brightly in the light from overhead, causing her to close her eyes for a moment.  


“Whoa, uh… hey there.”  


She blinked her eyes open to find the image of the man from before much closer to her, all of the sudden. She could still feel metal under her left hand, and it took her another second to realize that it must have been part of his armor.  


“Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”  


“I-I’m fine… I—”  


The next second, she felt something surge in her stomach and she bent forward. The feeling of the vomit stung her throat as she coughed, hands tightening around the surface beneath them. A pair of hands appeared on the back of her shoulders a moment later and she turned her head to the side in an attempt to see their owner. She could make out a splash of bright blue under rather harsh lighting, definitely not like any sort of moonlight or anything remotely natural.  


“Breathe, Elisabet, breathe…”  


Another wave of nausea churned in her stomach and she turned back to the sink in front of her and promptly vomited, once again. Immediately, her knees felt weak and she began to sink toward the floor, Samina’s hands helping support her under her armpits so that she didn’t immediately slam into the hard surface. Once she was seated, she leaned her head back against the cabinet surface behind her and breathed slowly in through her nose and out through her mouth.  


The sound of running water came from above her as she stared vacantly at the opposite wall, her vision out of focus. Almost as quickly as the nauseous feeling had appeared, it faded, leaving only a bitter taste in her mouth. A moment later, however, Samina crouched beside her, offering something in her hand.  


“Here, drink some of this.”  


She took the offered mug and glanced inside to find what appeared to be water, which she eagerly swallowed. The next swig she used to swish around the inside of her mouth, before swallowing it, as well.  


“Are you still feeling ill?”  


She shook her head, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand.  


“No, I… I think I’m good.”  


“Have you been feeling this way all morning?”  


“Nope, it was… uh… kind of a sudden thing.”  


Samina looked concerned as she adjusted her position so that she was kneeling, rather than crouching.  


“Maybe… did you eat something bad last night?”  


“Same thing everyone else ate, so if that’s the case, you better watch out.”  


The other woman’s expression cracked slightly, a grin pulling at the corners of her lips.  


“Well, from my experience, people don’t usually just get sick and vomit out of nowhere, except…”  


Elisabet looked over at her with raised eyebrows as she saw a hint of flush appear on her cheeks.  


“If you’re wondering if I decided that recently was a good time to get pregnant, then you’d be very wrong.”  


Samina seemed unable to meet her eyes as she fidgeted with the end of her headscarf nervously. With a heavy sigh, Elisabet placed one hand on her shoulder and shook her playfully.  


“I’m just messing with you, lighten up.”  


A smile actually broke her lips and Elisabet couldn’t help but grin, as well.  


“But, for the record, I am _definitely_ not pregnant.”


	20. P.I.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's super late at night as I'm posting this, so hopefully I don't miss too many typos/mistakes/etc. I'll double check at a more sane hour, perhaps. Anyway, I'm trying not to make this feel too much like stalling, so hopefully this chapter will push things along a bit.
> 
> It's time for some of the bad news we always knew Elisabet was going to receive, as well as a recognizable face, even if she has no name to put to it yet.

They both broke into laughter as Samina leaned against the cupboard doors beside Elisabet, holding the edge of the countertop above for support. Finally, after they had calmed down, she let out a heavy sigh.

“Well, you do seem better.” 

Elisabet just nodded, reaching up to place the cup on the countertop over her head. 

“Told you, it was nothing, and I’m fine now.” 

Using the countertop as support, she pulled herself to her feet, letting out a groan as she did. The sink was thankfully empty of any evidence of her ordeal a minute ago, but the remains of the coffee mug still sat in a pitiful heap beside it. Elisabet carefully collected as many of the pieces as she could with the towel nearby and carefully brought them to the nearest trash can. After another trip or two and a few swipes of the counter surface for good measure, she sighed and began to rinse some of the surface of the coffee stain off the towel’s white fabric. 

“Elisabet…” 

She turned the sink off and glanced over at Samina, who was now standing beside her, a mug of her own held in her hands. 

“Yeah?” 

“Was… your illness a minute ago… was that related to what we were talking about earlier?” 

A hard lump appeared in her throat as her pulse instinctually drove into panic mode, the sound of it pounding in her ears overriding almost everything else around her. After a moment or two, she forced herself to inhale slowly through her nose before letting it out in a heavy sigh. 

“Y-yeah, I… think there’s a good chance of that.” 

The concerned expression returned to the other woman’s face and Elisabet rubbed her eyes with one hand. 

“Please don’t give me that look, again.” 

“Elisabet, if this is affecting your behavior and memory, that’s one thing… but physically affecting you, as well? That’s an entirely different level.” 

“It’s not making me sick, Samina, it’s…” 

She paused, trying to think of the best way to describe her thought process. 

“It’s like… part of the mental thing can feel a little… jarring, sometimes, and… that can lead to… well, _that._ ” 

Samina stared back at her for several long moments in silence, each one serving to raise her pulse a good few beats per minute. 

“What about it can seem jarring?” 

She became acutely aware of the clammy feeling in the center of her palms, prompting her to press them against the sides of her pant legs. This was diving a little too far into the deep end too quickly for her, but Samina seemed bound and determined to get an answer. Luckily, before she was either forced to come up with the most convincing lie of her life, or spill a rather uncomfortable truth, a ringing in her ear interrupted them. 

She jumped at the sudden sound, but quickly recovered and opened her Focus interface. Her stomach flipped as she read the name of the incoming call, cold sweat immediately breaking out in more places than on her palms. She reached up and pressed the “answer” button, bringing up a 3D image of a man in a military officer’s outfit. 

“General Hermes, it’s… early.” 

“Good morning Dr. Sobeck, I apologize for the hour of the call, but I felt it was urgent. I need to speak with you… in private. Are you somewhere you will not be overheard?” 

Her eyes quickly moved over to Samina, who was looking at her with a curious expression, most likely due to the name she had mentioned. 

“Can I call you back in five minutes?” 

“Understood. Hermes out.” 

With that, the call ended and she closed the Focus interface. 

“General Hermes? At this hour?” 

Samina looked to Elisabet for an answer, to which she only sighed. 

“It is, but… I need to speak to him in private.” 

The other woman looked disappointed, but nodded. 

“We can continue to talk over lunch, okay?” 

“Sounds good.” 

Elisabet simply nodded before turning on her heel and quickly exiting the break room. 

  


  


“Okay, tell me why you’re calling me at the crack of dawn, General.”

The doors to Elisabet’s office slid closed behind her and she held her hand over the scanner next to it, eliciting a confirmation tone that they had been locked. 

“It’s not with good news, I’m afraid.” 

“Nothing these days ever is.” 

Hermes sighed, his shoulders sagging slightly as he rubbed at his eyes with one hand. 

“At 0400, we lost one of the last few fortifications we had left. The east coast line has been almost entirely broken.” 

Ice ran through Elisabet’s veins as she slowly walked toward her desk, eyes shifting in and out of focus on the image of Hermes. 

“We’re anticipating the swarm to break through on the east coast soon. We’re running dangerously thin on time.” 

“And we’re working as fast as we can,” Elisabet countered. “We’ve been making leaps and bounds in progress—” 

“I’m not here to tell you to move faster, Dr. Sobeck,” he interrupted. “I’m just here to update you and… possibly pose a plan.” 

She slowly took a seat on the edge of her desk, her hands gripping the metal surface on either side of her tightly. 

“How much more work would you say your team has until the entire system is complete?” 

“I… I-I don’t know.” 

She sighed, hanging her head for a moment before looking back up at the image of the general before her. 

“Maybe… a few months 'till a full install?” 

“Unfortunately, we really may not have that.” 

Elisabet let out a shaky sigh, running her hands through her hair. 

“We could… maybe eek out the actual builds in a month or so, get most of it in place by then, too.” 

“Dr. Sobeck, that’s why I’m calling to talk to you about this particular plan… take it as a suggestion, if you will.” 

He seemed to wait for a response from her, so she nodded, folding her arms across her chest. 

“Would you need your entire staff to put the last finishing touches on the project, or could it be done with each section’s primary leader?” 

“The Alphas? It… depending on how much is already done, there is the possibility that it could be done by a small team… it would take much longer to put those finishing touches on than with everyone, though.” 

General Hermes sighed, beginning to pace back and forth. 

“I know, but… the idea has been proposed that if push came to shove, would you and your team of Alphas be able and willing to be sealed in with GAIA Prime in order to finish the work?” 

Elisabet stared blankly back at the purple-tinged holograph for a moment or two before blinking rapidly and clearing her throat. 

“I-I mean… you mean instead of in Elysium, with everyone else?” 

“Precisely.” 

She let out a heavy sigh, looking down at the ground between her and the projected image of the general. 

“I would have to ask them. It’s not fair for me to force anyone into this.” 

“I understand, but… this may become a very real possibility.” 

Elisabet nodded slowly, finally looking back up at the image of General Hermes. 

“I’ll get back to you.” 

“Sounds good. I’ll keep you posted of any new updates.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Godspeed, Dr. Sobeck.” 

With that, the call ended and the Focus interface closed, as well. The room was plunged into an oppressive silence for several long moments before a familiar, electronic chime broke it. 

“Elisabet… are you okay?” 

She remained silent for a similar amount of time before taking a deep breath and looking over at the console that constituted GAIA. 

“I mean… realistically? No. As for this particular situation? Well… I’m probably as ‘okay’ as I can be.” 

“It was a lot to take in.” 

“You don’t have to tell me…” she muttered, laughing softly. 

“Will you discuss this with the others?” 

“Eventually.” 

She pushed away from her desk, beginning to pace about the open area behind it. 

“I… don’t think this is the level of stress I need to place on them right now… not if we want to push through as much of this as we can in the next month.” 

“This does seem to be the type of news that would create a panicked reaction and high levels of stress.” 

Elisabet smiled faintly as she nodded slowly. 

“Are you feeling it, too, GAIA?” 

“Out of all of my processes, this news is taking up about five thousand of them.” 

“Wow, I—I guess you are.” 

She sighed, turning back toward her chair at her desk. 

“Well, in light of all that, I better get back to work.” 

With a groan, she fell into her chair, running her hands over her face. As she pulled them away and opened her eyes, once again, she was immediately greeted by the sight of some kind of vivid tapestry before her. Confusion creased her face for a moment before her eyes widened and she looked around quickly. The room was most definitely not her clean and grey office made of metal and glass, but a rather cozy space with white walls, wood floors and ceilings, and a decently large and comfy-looking bed before her. 

“ _So much for that idea._ ” 

She slowly turned in place, taking in the wooden furniture and odd trinkets scattered about the rest of the room. All of it looked much closer to the types of houses and apartments that she was used to from her own life, or at least more like the cabins she had visited a few times. 

“ _Is this… mine? Where am I?_ ” 

“If so, Aloy’s got a nice place, from what I’ve seen,” she muttered under her breath. 

She reached down and ran her hand over the blanket on the bed, the fabric surprisingly soft and smooth. Everything she had seen so far in this “world” had always had at least some kind of rough edge to it, so to see somethings actually made to be as comfortable or soft as possible was… endearing? She shook her head, pulling her hand away as she let out a heavy sigh. Her gaze happened to fall on something to her right and she turned to face it as she straightened upright; another tapestry hung on the wall above a couch with cushions the same rich red color as the blanket on the bed. She walked toward it to get a closer look, focusing in on the subject of the design. Three people were depicted in the center of it: a man, a woman, and a child. None of the three looked anything like her, causing her to frown slightly. 

“ _Okay, so, not my place… probably._ ” 

She came to a stop in front of the couch, her eyes glazed over slightly. 

“ _Not_ her _place. Not_ Aloy’s _place._ ” 

Elisabet shook her head, massaging her right temple with one hand. Finally, with a sigh, she looked back up at the tapestry before her. None of the people seemed familiar to her, although they were quite clearly a family. 

“ _I’m going to guess this is their house, apartment, whatever… Who are they, and why am I here?_ ” 

With a slight frown, she turned away from the tapestry and couch to face the center of the room, once again. There appeared to be no one else in the space with her, yet there was a fire going beside her, and for all intents and purposes it seemed as if someone should be home. She slowly began to walk into the center of the room, one hand reaching toward where she knew the Focus to be beside her right ear. Before she could activate it, however, a voice called out from somewhere else in the building, sounding muffled, as if it were a floor above or below her. 

“You’re wasting your time, girl!” 

She jumped in surprise, her hand accidentally hitting the device and activating it anyway. The web of purple lines appeared around her as she tried to regain her composure, looking around for the source of the voice. A shape near the floor caught her attention and she looked down. The outline of a person appeared below her, idly milling about whatever room he was currently in, since it was clear the Focus was looking through the floor. 

“ _Damn, this is like a military-grade one._ ” 

As her eyes fell on the outline of the person, a small info box appeared, much like the one she had seen with the machines, earlier. This one, however, featured much less actual information than those. There were only two lines of data: “Human. Erend.” 

“ _Erend? Is that… a rank? A job? A name?_ ” 

Feeling like she had gotten her heartbeat under control, again, she deactivated the Focus interface with a sigh. 

“More questions, no answers…” 

She glanced around the room, once again, before noticing a set of stairs leading down to her left. Taking a deep breath, she moved over toward them, descending toward the level below. As it came into view, she found the Mohawk-sporting man in the odd chainmail-like armor she had seen earlier leaning against a wall, arms folded over his chest. He glanced over at the sound of her footsteps on the wooden stairs, a smirk tugging at his lips. 

“Give up?” 

“Not quite,” she said. “Just… looking for a new approach.” 

“I told you, girl, nothing’s getting through that Oseram latch.” 

He pointed over to his right and her eyes followed his gesture to a rather large, wooden hatch set into the floor, complete with iron bars riveted into the top to both reinforce and presumably secure it. A single, large lock sat in the middle of it all, holding two large, sturdy bars together so that it would be impossible to lift either side of the doors as long as it was engaged. 

“And we have no way of getting a key?” 

“The key is going to only be with the person who owns it, or the maker, and since Olin is not here, and I have no idea who the hell he went to, and this is sort of an unofficial investigation… no.” 

“ _Investigation? Of what?_ ” 

Elisabet tried to hide her confusion under a frown as she placed her hands on her hips, staring over at the locked door. 

“ _I doubt anyone would keep something normal and innocent behind a door like that._ ” 

“Have you decided to call it a day?” 

She glanced over at the man leaning against the wall to her right, noticing his smug look and how his eyes kept… travelling. 

“Not quite.” 

She turned and made her way back upstairs, shivering slightly as soon as she was out of sight. 

“It’s been a while since that’s happened,” she muttered. “Okay… some way to get through that door.” 

The upstairs bedroom area didn’t immediately yield any answers, but now that she knew someone was waiting on her, she didn’t want to take the time to start looking through the Focus journal logs; that would have to wait for another time. Her eyes fell on a desk to her left and she quickly strode over to it. The surface was clean, so she began to quickly go through the drawers. They were mostly filled with old-timey paper and items that looked almost like thin, black crayons. She picked one of them up and rolled it between her fingers for a moment before holding it to her nose and sniffing it. 

“Charcoal…?” 

She looked down at it for a moment before letting out a “huh” and replacing the item in the drawer where she found it. 

“Okay, that was a bust…” 

As she began to turn to face the room, once again, she caught sight of something just beside her and stopped mid-turn. A ladder hung in front of what looked like some kind of storage area barred off by a wooden cage-like structure. Her gaze followed it up to see a landing above it, along with more crates and barrels of some kind. 

“Well… what the hell?” 

She set about climbing the ladder, finding that was able to move up it much faster than she expected, reaching the top in only a matter of seconds. With a sigh, she rose to a standing position on the landing, glancing around the cluttered space. Most of the crates seemed to be secured shut, but a small area was cleared to walk among them, so she began to carefully make her way farther into the clutter. 

As she rounded a corner, she came across a rather large pallet loaded with some kind of metal bars, all of them lashed to it with ropes. Just beyond it, however, the floor seemed to disappear, a glow emanating from some light beneath it rising up through the opening. She maneuvered around the side of the pallet, approaching the edge of the floor and leaning over to see what was beneath. Immediately, she was confronted with the image of the wooden hatch the man had pointed to earlier. She took a step back from the edge as she found her eyes returning to the metal bars behind her. 

“Well, apparently we wanted to get through it…” 

With a sigh, she moved around to the other side of the pallet, rubbing her hands together. She paused for a moment to contemplate whether she should ask the man below for help, but with a smirk she stepped up to the heavy cargo, herself. It was hard to get a good braced position against it, but after struggling for a moment or two, she placed her back against it, arms out to either side, and pushed against the floor in front of her with her feet. At first, it seemed like it was actually far too heavy to move on her own, but as she tried harder, a groan sounded from behind her and she felt the pallet begin to slide. 

Elisabet redoubled her efforts as the pallet began to pick up some speed. All of the sudden, it rapidly began to accelerate and she had a feeling that it had begun to tip over the edge. Her suspicion was proven correct when the end she was leaning against began to lift up and she desperately tried to stop herself from moving before she tumbled over the edge of the landing, herself. She skidded to a stop just in time as the heavily-loaded wooden pallet slipped over the edge, disappearing from sight. A moment later, a deafening crash sounded from behind her as the floor beneath her feet shook. 

A surprised shout and what sounded like a curse came from downstairs as she turned around to survey her handiwork. A gaping hole now appeared where the hatch had once been, revealing the beginning of a stone staircase. The man from before appeared at the edge of the hole, glancing down into it before looking up toward her, quickly trying to hide the look of surprise on his face. 

“I did say not to break anything, didn’t I?” 

Elisabet couldn’t help but grin as she simply shrugged, the satisfaction from the first look he had given her enough to not care too much about the destruction she had just caused. As she turned around to head back toward the ladder she had used to reach the upper loft area, she suddenly found herself confronted with a rather familiar face, Charles’ countenance somewhere between confused and concerned. She blinked rapidly, only to be confronted with the crates and barrels before her, once again. 

“ _Aloy is talking to Charles? Fuck me._ ” 

She ran her hands over her face, letting out a heavy sigh. As she lifted her head, she found herself looking at the image of Charles standing several feet away, now, his arms folded over his chest. 

“Elisabet… I’m not impressed.” 

Her heart skipped a beat as she tried desperately to wrap her mind around just what he might be talking about. As she opened her mouth to respond, she found herself standing in the loft. 

“With what?” 

The words involuntarily came out of her as she felt the beginnings of vertigo coming over her. She staggered to one side, throwing her hand out to brace herself against the wall. 

“Hey, are you okay up there?” 

The voice of the man in the world where she just dropped a pallet of metal bars through a door called up to her. Elisabet’s teeth ground together as she clenched her jaw, her hand not currently braced against the wall curling tightly into a fist. 

“Why does this always have to happen at the worst times?” she growled under her breath before clearing her throat. “Yeah, fine.” 

“Well, what’s taking so long, then?” 

She shook her head and pushed away from the wall, closing her eyes and trying to block out what she could have sworn was the faint sound of Charles’ voice ringing in her ears. Instead, she focused on taking one step at a time, hearing the sounds of her boots on the wooden floor. Her hand slid across the surface of a wooden crate nearby and she made a conscious effort to take in the texture and grain. The ladder felt sturdy under her as she gripped it tightly enough to turn her knuckles white, but the ache that she expected to come with the visual seemed diminished compared to what she was used to. 

“ _She hasn’t spent nearly as many years abusing her joints and fingers as you._ ” 

A smirk tugged at her lips as she hopped off the last rung of the ladder, turning and walking toward the stairs to the lower level in one smooth motion. As she descended, she found the Mohawk-sporting man standing at the top of the stairs the door had previously guarded. 

“Well, you sure do know how to make an entrance.” 

He regarded her with a smirk, engendering a confused expression from Elisabet. 

“First you show up alive a long way from home, then you nearly vomit on me, and now you’re smashing up other people’s apartments. There better be something actually interesting down here or everyone is going to think that I’m the one who went crazy for letting you in here.” 

“Well, the fastest way to find out,” Elisabet began, hopping from the side of the opening onto a step several down from the topmost one and looking back at the man, “is to take a look. Shall we?”


	21. Cause for Concern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Monday, so let the drama commence.
> 
> Where I am writing-wise right now, I feel like I may be circling in on the end of the story, but rest assured/be warned: I'm already approximately around Chapter 30. So, if you are enjoying this story but thinking "will this go on forever?" the answer is: there is an end, but not next week... or the week after.
> 
> Leave a comment, if you're so inclined, and let me know what you like/don't like/are thinking/are wishing and I will try to reply to them within a reasonable time frame! I always love hearing what people have to say.

The Mohawk-sporting man simply shook his head and chuckled under his breath as she turned and began to lead the way into the darkened cellar-like room. As she approached the bottom, she quickly realized that there was no strong light source ahead, so she brought up the Focus interface, navigating to a particular menu before choosing the “low light” option. Instantly, the world around her was lit up in strange, blue outlines as the Focus used something similar to echolocation to fill in the gaps of what she couldn’t see, herself. It wouldn’t help her read something in this darkness, but at least she would know if she were about to bump into something, or if another person was lying in wait for them.  


Once she rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs, she found herself in something that looked almost like a medieval dungeon. An initial, cursory inspection revealed that they were alone, so she began to examine the rest of it a little more closely. The walls were made from roughly hewn stone, as if someone had simply dug out this space from the existing foundation. Of course there was no electricity, but she did notice several brackets on the walls that she could only assume served as torches to provide light for anyone who didn’t have a gadget like hers.  


A moment later, a bright light came from behind her, filling in the empty shapes made by the Focus’s interface, so she turned it off, glancing back to find the man from upstairs standing behind her, a torch held in one hand.  


“Is it a Nora trick to be able to see in the dark?”  


A smirk pulled at her lips.  


“Not quite.”  


“Just a… mysterious huntress’s one, then, huh?”  


“Something like that.”  


The man began to light the torches on the wall with the one in his hand, slowly illuminating the space more clearly. The room definitely had a much rougher feel to it than the rest of the apartment she had seen before, but that should have been expected from something that appeared to be almost like some kind of Underground Railroad stop. Several crates and barrels lay scattered about the room, various kinds of books and papers left on top of them, while one long bench stood against the wall immediately across from the stairs; Elisabet moved over to it and scanned what lay on its surface. Nothing seemed to particularly noteworthy, all of the various pages seemingly related to dig sites and the people the writer was working with.  


“ _This would be great if I knew just what the fuck I was looking for, exactly._ ”  


“Olin is a man of many secrets,” the other man in the room began, snapping her out of her reverie and drawing her attention away from the bench, “but I never would have expected something like this. This is… concerning.”  


“What do you think he used this space for?” she asked, glancing around at the crates and barrels.  


“I honestly have no idea,” he replied, shaking his head. “I figured that’s where you’d come in.”  


Elisabet just nodded, her lips pulling into a thin line.  


“ _Great._ ”  


She moved over to the nearest crate, noting a rather large, leather-bound journal sitting on top of it. Upon opening it, she found a series of entries from various dates. As her eyes scanned over the material before her, the Focus next to her ear made a noise and her face contorted in confusion. Opening the interface, she found a message telling her that a new entry had been logged in her “datapoints.” She navigated to the menu and found all of the various written entries she had seen in one of her previous episodes, the most recent marked by an asterisk and bearing the title “Unknown_002.”  


“ _Guess it’s up to me to name what it is._ ”  


She quickly titled it “Olin’s Journal,” after what the other man had said before, and closed the interface. As she looked back down at the pages before her, the last entry on the right-hand side seemed to draw her attention. As she scanned over it, her eyes widened slightly.  


“Fitful sleep the past three nights, thinking on that Nora girl. Why did it order her killed? The device, must be. Even so, what threat could she pose?”  


“ _I’m going to take a wild guess that he’s talking about me._ ”  


Elisabet absentmindedly reached toward her focus, fingers coming to rest just beneath it for a moment before she shivered and let her hand fall by her side, once again. Reading back through the various entries before this one, she slowly unraveled the story of the mysterious Olin before finally coming to one where he outright labelled himself as a traitor.  


“ _Well, that seems convenient, but… a confession is a confession._ ”  


“Hey—uh—check this out,” she said, glancing over her shoulder, suddenly realizing that she didn’t know the man’s name.  


“What did you find?”  


He appeared next to her and she gestured to the journal, turning it so he could see. His eyes scanned over the pages for several long moments before he let out a growl from the back of his throat.  


“He called himself a friend. That backstabbing cheat!”  


The man spat on the ground to the left of the crate as he turned away from the journal. Elisabet closed the book and turned around to face him as he came to a stop in the middle of the room.  


“How did you learn to read glyphs? And these things that you see… how do you do it?”  


Elisabet was at a loss for an answer for a moment, debating whether to actually tell him an answer this time or not. Finally, she sighed, gesturing to the device on the side of her head.  


“My Focus, it… reveals what can’t normally be seen.”  


“And Olin’s Focus, it does the same?”  


At the mention of someone else having one of the devices, she grew much more interested, but tried to contain her outward reaction.  


“I… would assume so, yes.”  


“And… do you think that’s the device he was referring to?”  


“I… think he was talking about mine,” she said, but snapped her fingers and looked up at him excitedly, “but I bet that one of the killers was talking to him through it, or even able to see through it, like they were actually there.”  


“So… that’s how they saw you? Through Olin’s Focus?”  


“I’d say it’s a pretty safe guess.”  


“That’s… crazy…”  


The man shook his head, rubbing at his eyes with one hand as he began to pace back and forth.  


“Do you know where he’s gone, at all?”  


He shook his head again, but refused to stop moving.  


“He just left like he usually does a few days ago. I didn’t ask questions. Never do.”  


Elisabet frowned, folding her arms over her chest as she began to slowly pivot on one foot, looking around the room. Her eyes fell on the journal, once again, and she stepped over to it. Flipping a few pages beyond where she had seen the confession of meeting her, she found the last written note before the rest of the pages were blank. He mentioned something about visiting a particular area for “yet another dig site,” and she jabbed the entry with her finger. With her free hand, she reached up to tap the Focus and took a scan of the actual entry and his description of the location before closing both the interface and the journal, itself.  


“I think I found where he was heading next.”  


As she turned around, she suddenly found herself facing a room that was distinctly not the dungeon-like workshop she had just been standing in, but the actual lab area just outside her office door back in the facility. She blinked rapidly as the sound of heated voices reached her ears and her eyes focused on two figures directly ahead of her. Confusion rolled over her in a wave as she watched Samina and Charles arguing in the middle of the walkway ahead of her.  


“You have no right to step in to someone else’s affairs!”  


“This could be moving beyond just a personal matter, Samina!”  


She wanted to step forward and intervene, but seeing as she had no clue what they were talking about, she didn’t feel prepared to deal with such an intense scenario.  


“Has anything she’s done affected you or your ability to perform your job?”  


“No, but if she’s supposed to be the director of this whole project, where does that leave us?”  


It didn’t take much inferring to piece together what was happening, after all.  


“What prompted you to check on her, exactly?”  


Samina placed her hands on her hips, stepping aggressively closer to Charles.  


“Why did you decide to randomly come up here and pressure her?”  


“I’ve been concerned, as have several others…”  


As Charles began to retort, Elisabet stealthily opened her Focus and scanned through her messages, making sure that she hadn’t actually messaged him about meeting, before closing it and taking a deep breath.  


“Well, Charles,” she began, drawing both of their attentions to her, “I don’t remember asking you to stop by for any reason.”  


He regarded her with an odd look for a moment or two as she noted the worried expression on Samina’s face, although it lasted for only a split second before it was replaced with the stern one she had been wearing, previously.  


“I just figured I would talk in person, since it was a matter—”  


“I’m sure it could have been done over message.’  


He visibly ground his teeth as Elisabet folded her arms over her chest.  


“Did you call her here, then?”  


He nodded toward Samina, who regarded him with an indignant glare.  


“She’s not my bodyguard, Charles,” Elisabet spat. “Perhaps I felt unsafe in my current situation and wanted someone else to be here for my own peace of mind.”  


His gaze shifted between the two women for a moment or two before he let out an annoyed huff and moved around Samina, stalking quickly over the door to the hallway and disappearing through it before they had even opened fully. Once they had slid closed behind him, she turned toward Elisabet as her shoulders visibly deflated.  


“Are you… okay?”  


Despite the vagueness, she knew exactly what she was asking.  


“Yeah, I’m… regular old me.”  


Samina nodded slowly as she wrung her hands in front of her, the aggressive and assertive body language from a minute ago entirely swapped for a much more concerned, nervous nature.  


“I… think you know why he was here,” she said slowly.  


Elisabet nodded.  


“I didn’t have to be present for the whole conversation to get that.”  


Samina sighed heavily, letting her hands fall to her sides as she fully faced her.  


“I got a message from GAIA,” she explained, “saying that you were being confronted and that you were… experiencing an episode.”  


“Jesus…”  


A soft, electronic chime sounded in the room and Elisabet glanced over at the nearby console to see the yellow orb that constituted GAIA hovering over it.  


“Dr. Ebadji is correct,” the familiar voice said. “Dr. Ronson visited while you were behaving abnormally, in accordance with previous episodes, and the interaction began to turn hostile.”  


“How hostile?”  


“He accused you of being unfit to lead this project.”  


This time it was Samina who answered, prompting Elisabet to look over at her, ice flooding her veins as her eyes widened.  


“W-what?!”  


“Elisabet, I think there is a good chance he will tell others about this.”  


After a moment of silence, the redhead suddenly kicked out at a nearby trash can, sending it flying across the room.  


“Fuck!”  


The metal bin clattered to the floor as Samina winced, shoving her hands in her pockets.  


“It’s my word against his, though, right?”  


“If he gets hold of video evidence…”  


“But he can’t, because GAIA can lock it down, right?”  


“Affirmative, Elisabet.”  


“Do it, now.”  


She ran her hands through her hair, beginning to pace back and forth.  


“We need to run as much damage control on this as possible.”  


She froze mid-stride, staring off into space before sighing.  


“God, I sound like fucking Ted.”  


“I mean, this is certainly the type of scenario he has experience in…”  


Elisabet’s eyes immediately flicked over to the other woman, staring her down.  


“I’m not going to him for help on this.”  


“That’s not what I was suggesting,” the other woman said, holding her hands up defensively.  


“Good, good…”  


She resumed her pacing, muttering incomprehensively under her breath as she did. Finally, after a few moments, she sighed heavily, stopping where she was, and turned to face Samina.  


“That’s the long and short of it, isn’t it? Just my word versus his.”  


“It would seem so…”  


“You—you’ll back me up, right?”  


Samina nodded quickly.  


“Of course.”  


With a heavy sigh, Elisabet ran her hands through her hair before letting them fall to her sides.  


“Thank you, Samina.”  


The other woman smiled warmly, nodding, as she shoved her hands in her back pockets, shifting her stance slightly as she did.  


“I… think I want to see what exactly happened before—”  


She was interrupted by her Focus interface activating, bringing up a message accompanied by a ringing sound in her ear. Her heart nearly stopped at the sight of the name displayed below the words “incoming call.”  


“Elisabet?”  


“You’ve got to be shitting me.”  


She took a deep breath, trying her best to compose herself, before pressing the accept call button.  


“What do you want now—?”  


“Lis, just what the hell is going on over there?”  


She recoiled slightly at the interruption, the panic from a moment ago quickly turning to anger.  


“Want to try that again, Ted?”  


The image of a very perturbed Ted Faro stood before her, arms folded over his chest. Even seeing the holographic image of him made her fingers itch to reach out and hit him, especially as he gave her an admonishing look and spoke again in the same forceful tone as before.  


“I just got a message from one of your team members, Charles… Ronson, I think,” he began, “saying some crazy shit about you. What the hell is he talking about? Should I be concerned about the state of the project?”  


“First of all,” Elisabet spat, clenching her hands into fists at her sides, “this isn’t your project, so you’re not in any place to be questioning me like this.”  


“Lis, we both know how important this is—”  


“No, don’t try to make this a ‘team effort,’ Ted!”  


She jabbed her finger at the holographic image, her pulse beginning to pound in her ears.  


“You’re here to fund this, and that’s it! You brought me into the know and I designed this whole thing, period. My team is working on it, and that’s exactly how it is: _my_ team.”  


“Okay, okay,” he said, holding his hands up defensively and taking a step back. “I just… got concerned when one of your people messaged me out of the blue about you.”  


“Oh? And what exactly did he say?”  


“Something about episodes leaving you in some kind of fugue state where you seem unaware of what’s going on and have no memory of before—Lis, all of this sounds batshit crazy. What the hell is he going on about?”  


“That’s exactly it,” she said quietly, “Charles spouting batshit nonsense.”  


“Lis—”  


“I can manage my own team, Ted.”  


He seemed to regard her as if he wanted to say something else for a moment or two more before sighing and rubbing his eyes with one hand.  


“I’m assuming you heard about the east coast front?”  


“Hermes called me this morning.”  


“Yeah, I figured you were the first person he told.”  


“So, as you know from that, we have a lot of work to do and I really need to be getting back—”  


“Lis, just,” he interrupted before pausing for a moment, one hand outstretched toward her slightly, “stay safe, okay?”  


Elisabet was actually taken aback by the gesture for a moment, her mouth still open from being interrupted mid-thought before, but now she found no words coming to her. Finally, she managed to close it and nodded, folding her arms over her chest. He mimicked the gesture before letting his hand fall to his side.  


“Later, Lis.”  


“Ted.”  


With one more nod, she tapped her Focus and the interface closed, ending the call between them. A shiver ran up her spine as she stared into space absentmindedly, eyes glazed over as her fingers toyed with the fabric of her top, running over the miniscule lines that ran lengthwise down the sleeve. After a few moments, she became aware of the sound of a voice nearby and blinked rapidly, the lights of her workshop coming back into focus, although perhaps seeming a little brighter than usual. Something touched her back and her head whipped around to the right to catch Samina recoiling in surprise, one hand still outstretched toward her, although the pressure on her shoulder blade from a moment ago had disappeared.  


“Elisabet?”  


“Sorry, just… thinking.”  


“It was Ted.”  


The way she said it seemed more a statement than a question, but Elisabet nodded, anyway.  


“GAIA patched me in,” she continued, drawing a raised eyebrow from the redhead.  


“GAIA?”  


“I apologize Elisabet,” the soothing feminine voice said, “I felt it may be beneficial for Dr. Ebadji to also be aware of what was happening.”  


“You’ve really been taking the initiative on your own a lot, lately,” she replied, smirking. “Don’t be sorry, though, it… that was probably good thinking.”  


GAIA didn’t have any sort of actual face to visually represent her, but Elisabet could have sworn she could tell the AI would be smiling. With a sigh, she turned to Samina, shifting the position of her arms before her.  


“So… what do you think of that whole conversation?”  


“The fact that he went to Ted so quickly concerns me,” she replied, frowning slightly. “Why him, though? You’d think if he really wanted to get something accomplished, he would have contacted General Hermes or someone else involved with the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”  


A shiver ran up Elisabet’s spine again and Samina winced.  


“Sorry, I didn’t mean to—”  


“No, you’re right,” she interrupted. “It does seem odd why he would go to him, and yeah, it was incredibly fast. He must have sent that from the goddamn elevator or the hallway outside, Jesus. At least Ted didn’t seem to totally believe him.”  


“He doesn’t know Charles like he knows you.”  


Elisabet slowly nodded, tapping one foot on the metal floor softly as she stared at the space to the left of Samina for a moment or two before letting out a growl of frustration and running her hands through her hair.  


“I think I need to see the whole interaction with him and… ‘me.’”  


She exchanged a glance with a Samina, who looked to her expectantly.  


“P-probably—”  


“Elisabet, if you say ‘alone,’ I will slap you upside the head.”  


Her eyes widened in surprise as she regarded the other woman in incredulity for a moment or two before she grinned.  


“I’m only kidding,” she finally said, “partially.”  


Elisabet’s expression had reduced to simply both eyebrows raised, but she still seemed wary of Samina as she cleared her throat and nodded toward her office door.  


“Let’s have this conversation somewhere a little more private.”  


Samina simply nodded, but looked visibly relieved that Elisabet had elected to include her. Once they were inside her office, Elisabet locked the door behind them and turned to face the center of the room.  


“GAIA—”  


“Queuing playback.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you believe the chapter title was not intentionally meant to be a quest from the game? I honestly only caught it when I was editing and double-checking everything. Guess that's what I get for doing this in the middle of the night. Also, surprise Ted!


	22. Surprises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnd here's the juicy details of everything the last chapter set up. Enjoy the drama, friends.

The holographic image of Elisabet popped into existence at her desk, sitting in thin air while the actual chair now sat a foot or two away. A second later, the image began to move as the playback truly began.  


“…so, I guess that’s—”  


She was interrupted by a distorted, synthetic chime and the image jumped slightly, inadvertently rolling back from the desk. Her expression conveyed the confusion and fear at whatever sound had just occurred, even though the real Elisabet knew it was simply the doorbell for the office.  


“What the—?”  


“Someone is at the door to the office,” GAIA’s distorted voice came through the recording.  


“Who is it?”  


“Charles Ronson.”  


The image looked confused as she slowly rose to her feet.  


“He is a member of your team, here.”  


“One of Elisabet’s team…?” she muttered, moving somewhat as if in a trance as she made her way around the desk.  


The real Elisabet felt a chill come over her as she tried to eye Samina’s reaction out of the corner of her eye, but she wasn’t able to make out anything obvious without turning her head more fully.  


“He is in charge of the team developing the ARTEMIS subfunction,” GAIA explained.  


“So… like that woman I met with the machines and… uh, what was her name?”  


“Samina Ebadji?”  


“Yeah, her.”  


Now, Elisabet actually looked over at Samina to see her watching the whole scene with a passive expression. Whatever she may be thinking or feeling at that moment, she was doing a very good job of concealing it, unlike Elisabet. She took a deep breath, folding her arms tightly across her chest in an attempt to stay the tremors making themselves known in her hands.  


The sound of the doorbell chime came again through the recording and the image of Elisabet jumped slightly.  


“You should probably answer the door. It is considered rude to keep someone waiting without explanation.”  


The image’s face contorted into an expression of exasperation as she sighed.  


“I do understand the concept, actually.”  


With that, she straightened herself up and moved toward the two real women. They stepped aside as the image opened the door and took a step back.  


“Hello, Charles,” she said and Elisabet shivered at how well she seemed to slip into her own mannerisms.  


“Dr. Sobeck,” he replied, his image still hidden behind the actual door.  


“How—uh—what can I do for you?”  


“I was curious to see how your work with GAIA was coming along.”  


“Oh, uh… it’s… coming,” she said, glancing back toward the computer consoles at her desk before looking back at the door.  


“Could you show me a bit?”  


The real Elisabet curled one of her hands into a fist as the familiar flame began to build in her chest. She could clearly see the bait he was laying down for Aloy to take, and she was falling for all of it. It wasn’t her fault; she had no reason to believe a member of her time would be out to get her.  


“Uh… I guess, maybe. Anything in specific you want to see?”  


She stepped back into the room as the image of Charles appeared through the door, his gaze focused intently on Elisabet.  


“How has she been faring with connecting to the other subroutines? Is she able to communicate effectively with any of them yet?”  


“Uh…”  


“I have had several successful tests connecting and communicating with the subfunctions of APOLLO, DEMETER, ARTEMIS, MINERVA, and HEPHAESTUS,” the digital, feminine voice answered.  


Charles actually seemed somewhat surprised to hear the AI speak, his face registering actual astonishment for a moment before he quickly composed himself, once again.  


“That is some veritable progress,” he conceded. “Not HADES, however?”  


“There is still some coding to work out with Travis Tate’s team,” GAIA answered, once again.  


“Right, I remember him mentioning something about sending something over to Elisabet to check over… what was that again?”  


He turned to the image of Elisabet, who now looked extremely uncomfortable and out of her element.  


“Um… I can’t remember exactly,” she replied, shrugging slightly. “There’s been a lot given to me at once…”  


“That’s just the name of the game around here, isn’t it?” Charles replied, laughing as Elisabet returned it with much less enthusiasm and much more nervousness. “Say, do you remember what we talked about last night?”  


The real Elisabet wanted to take a swing at the hologram, but restrained herself. She knew they hadn’t spoken the night before, but of course there was no way for Aloy to have known that. He had set a perfect trap for her.  


“Uh… I’m not sure,” she replied. “It’s been a long day. Could you remind me?”  


He regarded her for a moment or two longer before folding his arms over his chest.  


“We didn’t talk at all last night.”  


The image of Elisabet froze in place and she almost swore the recording had malfunctioned, but the image of Charles still moved normally.  


“Elisabet… I’m not impressed.”  


A strange sense of déjà vu came over her as she remembered the small intrusion she had seen while in Aloy’s world. She forced herself to pay attention to the image of herself as a strange shiver seemed to pass through her for a moment and she knew it was when they had swapped places, once again.  


“Uh… I-I’m sorry?” she said, clearly at a total loss since she had missed what he had just said.  


“After that time you slipped and hit your head, you fell asleep in a team meeting, have spoken to several other people while seeming like you weren’t totally there… Elisabet, is something more serious going on?”  


“I don’t know what you’re implying, Charles.”  


“I’m implying that you may be in a position where you need serious medical treatment.”  


The image of Elisabet stared back at him with an intensity that made the real one feel uncomfortable, yet somehow Charles still stood his ground.  


“There’s nothing wrong with me.”  


“You are experiencing issues with memory loss, now, too,” he continued, gesturing to her. “Elisabet, I know we are on a huge time crunch for this project, but… this can’t be good or healthy.”  


“Are you questioning my ability to do my job?”  


He contemplated her for a moment or two longer as the image of Elisabet’s hands curled into fists.  


“Answer me, Charles.”  


“I don’t want it to come to that, but… it seems that may be a possibility.”  


The image of Elisabet stared him down for several more seconds before gesturing toward the door.  


“Get out.”  


“Elisabet, the others—”  


“You’ll tell no one anything, because you’re just making up stories,” she interrupted. “Get out. Now.”  


“You can’t just keep everyone in the dark on something like this—”  


“And what is _this,_ exactly?”  


“Clearly, you have suffered some kind of mental injury, whether that’s physically or psychologically, I’m not sure.”  


“I’ve had enough of this conversation.”  


She stepped forward and physically shoved Charles backward, causing him to stagger several steps.  


“Get. Out!”  


He regarded her with a staunch gaze for a moment or two before adjusting his shirt slightly and letting out a heavy sigh.  


“I need to tell the team, Elisabet.”  


“You will do no such thing!”  


He paused in the doorway, staring back at her.  


“Is that a threat?”  


“You’ve come in here and started threatening me, so you tell me.”  


He remained silent for a moment or two before turning and disappearing through the door. The image of Elisabet stood still, hands clenched into fists at her sides as she stared after the man, her shoulders heaving with each breath. Suddenly, the muffled sound of voices came from the recording and she perked up, moving quickly to the door and stopping in the middle of it, one hand on the frame. The image froze and the real Elisabet found herself blinking in surprise.  


“This is the time when Dr. Ebadji arrived and began to confront Dr. Ronson,” GAIA explained.  


The two women remained silent and still for several long moments before Elisabet finally let out a sigh, running her hands over her face.  


“I… I…”  


“That absolute bastard!”  


She jumped at the sound of Samina’s voice, pulling her hands away and regarding the other woman with a shocked expression.  


“He specifically came in here to do that. I get that he’s concerned, but after everything we’ve talked about, I didn’t think he would—”  


“Wait, ‘everything you’ve talked about?!’”  


Elisabet whirled to face the other woman, her look of surprise fading to one of anger as her hands clenched into fists at her sides.  


“What do you mean by that, Samina?”  


The other woman looked back at her with wide eyes, her mouth still hanging open from being interrupted mid-thought. It took her several long moments before she finally was able to close it and swallow nervously.  


“What did you tell him?”  


She remained silent for several more moments, shrinking away from the fiery redhead.  


“Samina…”  


“He’s concerned, too, Elisabet,” she finally said in one quick rush. “At least, that’s what he told me. He said he just wanted to help, and I… I was just trying to do what I thought could help us… help you.”  


Elisabet suddenly slammed her fist against the wall next to her, not caring about the jolt of pain that ran up her arm from the action.  


“I trusted you!” she screamed. “I fucking…trusted you!”  


Samina took several steps away from her as she saw her eyes beginning to grow red, although the look of fear in them was not lessened by the beginning of tears. Elisabet let out a cry of rage and swung her other fist at the wall, as well, sending yet another jolt of pain up her arm, although this time a concentrated amount remained in her middle knuckle, the stinging sensation quickly growing hot as she slowly pulled her hand away from the wall.  


“I trusted you…” she said in a much more normal volume, although she ground her teeth at the tremor in her voice.  


“I-I’m so sorry, Elisabet, I didn’t know…”  


“Do I need to make everyone sign an NDA for every little thing?”  


“We’re all supposed to be working on the same team, with the same goals, so I didn’t think—”  


“Get out.”  


Samina stared back at her for several long moments before Elisabet finally managed to turn her head toward her.  


“Please just—leave.”  


The seconds ticked by incredibly slowly until the other woman slowly turned in place and approached the door. The lock lifted and it slid open, most likely from GAIA’s doing, and she slowly exited, sparing one last glance behind her before the doors slid closed and locked, once again. The room was thrown into silence for several more long moments before Elisabet slowly turned her back to the wall and began to slide down it until she was in a seated position. Her head tilted forward until her forehead came to rest on her arms, folded over her knees. She remained still in this position until a soft voice came over the speakers in the room.  


“Dr. Sobeck?”  


A loud sob tore out of her throat as she angrily rubbed at her eyes with one hand, still not looking up.  


“GAIA, maybe now isn’t—”  


“I am concerned for you.”  


Elisabet paused for a moment before slowly lifting her head, staring over at the console with GAIA’s interface.  


“What do you mean?”  


“Dr. Ronson’s actions are concerning, and I can tell that it has taken a great toll on you. I am concerned for your well-being on several levels.”  


A sound halfway between a sob and a laugh escaped her lips as Elisabet attempted to rub the corner of her eye against her shoulder.  


“Well, I’m glad that someone is, then.”  


“Query: what would you call the emotion that you are feeling right now?”  


An actual laugh escaped her, now, but it was short, dry, and contained no sense of humor.  


“Betrayal.”  


She began to rise to a standing position, using the wall for support as she did. With a groan, she stretched her back and began to move toward her desk.  


“Query: why does it look so much like sadness?”  


Elisabet actually froze mid-step before blinking rapidly and shaking her head.  


“Now there’s a new existential crisis for me…”  


“I apologize, I did not mean to cause more distress.”  


“No, it’s… it’s fine.”  


She sighed, stepping beside her desk and drumming her fingers slowly on the edge of it.  


“I guess it kind of has a lot in common with sadness. It’s a… special variation, I suppose.”  


“That would seem to make sense from observing your reaction, as well as researching the term in my databases.”  


Elisabet laughed dryly, once again, shifting her stance slightly.  


“Quantifying human emotion…”  


“I have something I would like to show you.”  


Surprise registered on her face as she turned her attention back to the interface on the other side of her desk.  


“ _You_ have something to show _me_?”  


“Correct.”  


“Uh… okay then.”  


A moment later, the yellow orb hovering over the console attached to her desk seemed to flash for a moment before disappearing. Concern creased her features as she began to move toward where it had been a moment ago, only to stop as an image much like the holographic recordings she had just watched flickered into existence only a few feet in front of her. She jumped back in surprise, letting out an uncontrollable yelp before quickly attempting to compose herself. Once her vision had focused on the image that had appeared, her mouth hung open and she physically staggered back against her desk, nearly tripping on it as she did.  


The image of a woman with dark skin, a long, tightly-wound braid, and adorned in a flowing, green dress that looked almost like something out of drawings of Ancient Rome stood before her. As she stared at the image, the woman suddenly blinked and began to move, running her hands over the dress for a second before looking back up at Elisabet.  


“I have compiled an amalgamation of images in order to design an image to represent myself that I feel is more… human.”  


Elisabet attempted to rise to a standing position, but her knees felt weak and she remained braced against her desk for the moment. Her mouth was still open slightly, her eyes wide and quickly scanning over every detail of the image of the woman before her. After a few more long moments, the image’s expression began to falter, turning to one of uncertainty and concern.  


“Is something wrong, Dr. Sobeck?”  


“You… you… you made… a… projection of yourself?”  


“Indeed. I am no more tangible than the recordings you have viewed of your episodes.”  


“B-but… this… this isn’t the image of someone that already exists?”  


“Technically it is many people, although perhaps with a few who are most prominent, but no, this image is not purposefully designed to be an exact replica of a singular person.”  


Elisabet stared back at the image of GAIA for several long moments before letting out a short laugh, reaching one hand up to brush some of her hair back behind one ear.  


“Holy shit…”  


She continued to laugh, her expression fading from one of incredulity to somewhere between excitement and joy as she finally resigned to fully taking a seat on the edge of her desk.  


“I am uncertain what this reaction means.”  


“It means… I don’t know if I should feel proud or… I don’t even know.”  


Elisabet finally pushed off her desk, walking quickly toward the image of GAIA before slowing and beginning to circle around her.  


“You actually examined human images and structures and came up with a design all on your own… do you know what this means?”  


“That you have achieved success?”  


“That all of us have. Me, my team, and you.”  


Now that she was closer, Elisabet could make out even more of the fine details in GAIA’s image. They stood roughly about the same height as each other, which she wondered for a moment was actually some kind of homage to her. The detail on the dress in the image was incredible; it could have easily passed as an actual recording of someone, including the way it seemed to bunch, fold, and move with her. As Elisabet approached the front of her, once again, GAIA turned to look at her with an expectant look.  


“Did I miss anything?”  


Elisabet stared back at the image dumbly for a moment or two before her mouth opened without her totally being aware of it.  


“Do you have feet?”  


Immediately, she felt her face grow hot as she clamped her mouth shut, balling her hands into fists and digging her nails into her palms. Out of all the things she could say, all of the intelligent questions she could ask, that was what her brain had defaulted to? GAIA actually laughed, tilting her head back slightly before looking back over at Elisabet.  


“I don’t suppose I particularly need them, but I could make sure the design includes them if it makes you more comfortable.”  


“D-don’t worry about it,” Elisabet muttered, waving dismissively with one hand as she placed the palm of the other over her eyes.  


“I can see that this development has taken quite a toll on you.”  


“No shit!”  


Elisabet spun back around toward GAIA, who recoiled slightly in surprise, eyes widening.  


“This is one of the ultimate proofs of concept of what we’ve been doing!” she exclaimed, gesturing to the image of the woman. “The point was to develop an AI who can understand the Earth and its creatures enough to rebuild it someday and… if you can learn enough to not just compile appearances into a cohesive image, but also… well, ‘animate’ it so well… that’s gotta be a big step in the right direction.”  


The image of GAIA had slowly relaxed as Elisabet gushed, a satisfied smile appearing on her lips, as well. Once she was done speaking, the image looked down at herself, once again, grabbing hold of the dress and twisting it slightly before looking up.  


“I’m glad you approve.”  


Elisabet simply laughed as she took a seat on the edge of her desk, once again, letting out a heavy sigh.  


“God, what a roller coaster today has been…”  


“I understand, and that is why I wanted to show you. I hoped it may help you after…”  


GAIA trailed off as Elisabet sighed, nodding slowly.  


“Yeah… Well, it worked.”  


A small smile tugged at the image’s lips as the redhead sighed, running both hands through her hair.  


“Well, do you want to show the others?”  


“Right now?”  


“In general, I guess.”  


“I do not see a reason to hide any developments from them.”  


“Well, ones relating to you or the project—”  


“Your team cares about you, Elisabet.”  


The sudden interjection made her pause, a look of confusion on her face as her mouth remained open from her unfinished sentence.  


“Each one of them will have different ways of expressing this. You have tried to hide what has been happening to you so much that some of them have grown uncertain due to the secrecy, but they do care.”  


The image’s eyes bored into her own, the expression around them intense, but not angry. Finally, Elisabet swallowed the lump in her throat.  


“Holy shit, I’m being berated by the personified image of an AI…”  


Confusion creased GAIA’s face for a moment before Elisabet burst out into laughter.  


“I’m sorry, I… I just still can’t get over all of this!”  


She gestured to the entirety of GAIA’s image, once again as she pushed away from her desk.  


“Elisabet, I meant—”  


“I know you meant what you said, and I heard you,” she sighed, folding her arms over her chest. “I… I’m not the type who goes to other people because I have personal problems, you know?”  


“There is a high chance this attitude will only cause—”  


“More problems? Hadn’t thought of that.”  


GAIA’s expression turned to one of mild admonishment as she smirked.  


“It is so much more amusing now that I can see actual reactions from you.”  


“Elisabet…”  


“Okay, okay,” she huffed, rolling her eyes. “People care for me and they’re worried why I’m more of a wreck than usual lately. What if more of them react like Charles, though? He’s bound to have gone to someone other than Ted already!”  


“I can find no traces that he has sent similar communications to others pertaining to this matter since the confrontation.”  


“That’s just electronically, though, right?”  


“Yes.”  


“Which means he could have spoken to them in person.”  


“That is true.”  


“He knows that you’re tapped into all of these systems, so perhaps he wouldn’t want you to be able to know, in case you would try to lock him out—”  


“It is not my place, for the moment, to disrupt such—”  


“I know you won’t, but he doesn’t.”  


Elisabet sighed, rubbing her hands over her face for several moments before letting out a growl of frustration and letting them fall to her sides, once again.  


“I’m going to have to confront him face to face, aren’t I?”  


“There is technically another way.”  


“And that is?”  


“Tell everyone.”  


“What?”  


“Beat him to the reveal and tell everyone yourself.”  


“N-n-n-n-no!”  


Elisabet shook her head, waving her hands in front of her.  


“That is _not_ happening.”  


“Elisabet—”  


“They can be concerned without knowing the whole story. That is… way too much information for all of them to have.”  


The image of GAIA looked slightly defeated as Elisabet refolded her arms, once again.  


“I’ll confront him in person… one-on-one.”  


“Like he did to you?”  


Her teeth ground together as she refused to look at the image of the woman to her right, instead staring at a particular point on the wall directly ahead of her.  


“For his sake, then, I guess we better hope he doesn’t meet the actual person he did last time.”  


Finally, she turned to look over at GAIA, whose face now registered something akin to horror as her mouth fell open.  


“Are you suggesting that you hope—”  


“I don’t hope that Aloy gets a go at him,” Elisabet snapped, “but let’s just say that I know she’s a pretty capable fighter, even if she has the disadvantage of me not being in such ‘battle ready’ condition.”  


She quickly opened her Focus and made an active goal on her main To-Do list, ignoring whatever response GAIA had begun to rebuke with, and instead focusing on giving a succinct description that she hoped Aloy would even be able to follow. Finally, once the instructions were in place and she had even set up the system to guide her to Charles’s office, she closed the interface and turned back to the image of GAIA. As she did, she froze in place. The dejected look on the image’s face was enough to stop her legs from working and root her to the spot, something cold gripping her heart and nearly stopping it for a beat.  


“Elisabet… please… listen to me.”  


“GAIA, I need—”  


“What you’re doing is not right, and you know it!”  


The image suddenly took several steps closer to her, drawing within a foot as they locked eyes. Elisabet found herself suddenly wondering if GAIA could actually “see” through the eyes of the image, or if she was still drawing from the cameras and other inputs in the room, but those thoughts were quickly pushed aside as the AI began to speak, once again.  


“All of my observations of you and your behavior has never led me to believe you would actually consider such… reckless behavior and wanton disregard for others. This is not like you, and I do not understand why you are behaving in such a way. Elisabet, I’m… scared.”  


She physically staggered back a step or two until she bumped into the desk, once again, and her hand shot out to steady herself before she tripped and fell on top of it. Her eyes were locked with those of the image’s, unable to look away, no matter how hard she mentally protested. In the back of her mind, she knew this image was still the same amalgamation of code and processes as before but now with what amounted to a new interface, but actually being able to see a seemingly genuine human emotion staring back at her changed everything. It was no longer just a computer screen she could shut off, or a message on her Focus she could ignore; if she didn’t know better, she could assume this was simply a call from someone she knew somewhere else in the world.  


“Please… say something.”  


Elisabet blinked slowly, swallowing the hard lump that had appeared in her throat before even attempting to speak.  


“I-I… I’m sorry.”


	23. Bed and Breakfast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Monday, yo, and I am nothing if not consistent. The real discoveries for our heroine(s) are going to start rolling in, just you wait.
> 
> Once again, I sincerely thank everyone who's kept reading this far, whether that means you've been reading since I first started posting, or started later and have powered through. It's crazy to me how next week will be the five month anniversary since I randomly decided to post this story online, and I never expected as good of a response as I've received thus far.

Suddenly, the image of GAIA was replaced with a large, red light and Elisabet blinked, reeling backward a step or two. At first, she wondered if something had gone wrong, when a feeling of nausea came over her and her eyes began to widen. The light before her was distinctly not some kind of display or warning light, but something incredibly natural. A moment later, it was replaced with GAIA’s concerned expression, once again.  


“Elisabet, is everything all right?”  


“GAIA, I… I think…”  


The next blink brought the blinding light, once again, but her knees felt incredibly unsteady beneath her and she began to stagger forward, once again. Her hands shot out in front of her, reaching for anything to stop herself. A moment later, a bright light flashed in front of her and she found herself tumbling forward, arms windmilling in an attempt to regain balance.  


“Elisabet, are you experiencing—?”  


GAIA’s voice was cut off as the brilliant light filled her vision, once again, and something hard hit her at about her waist. A grunt escaped her as she came to a short stop, her hands firmly pressing against something hard and warm. She took several deep breaths as she waited for the nauseous feeling to pass; in the meantime, the image of GAIA or her office did not seem to reappear. Finally, her legs felt steady enough that she was able to take one last deep breath before focusing on what exactly she had run into a moment ago. To her relief, it wasn’t another person, but a stone wall that was just about waist-high. As she looked past it, however, she noticed that there appeared to be nothing but a several-hundred foot dropoff. Immediately, a sense of dizziness came over her, once again, and she feared that she was about to start the flip-flopping process all over again, but as she took a step back from the wall, the feeling seemed to fade.  


“ _Just good old fashion vertigo, I guess._ ”  


“Are… uh… are you okay, there?”  


She jumped at the sound of the man’s voice right beside her and spun to the side, her posture instinctually snapping into a braced, somewhat crouched stance, one hand reaching toward her back while the other remained ready in front of her for… something. As her eyes fell on the source of the voice, her posture slowly began to relax, the Mohawk-sporting man from her previous episode raising his hands defensively and taking a step back.  


“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya,” he said, laughing nervously. “The view of the sunset from up here can be pretty hypnotic, I know.”  


Elisabet cleared her throat, fully returning to a normal stance as she nodded.  


“Yeah, it’s… something else.”  


The man finally lowered his hands and let out a relieved sigh.  


“So… still think it’s a good idea to go charging out to Red Ridge Pass tonight?”  


“Uh… tonight?”  


Elisabet glanced toward the horizon, noting how low the sun was in the sky, already.  


“I mean, you showed up here in the middle of the day, vomiting, and then you’ve been kind of fading in and out attention-wise since… no offense,” he added quickly. “Maybe it’s best you rest for a bit?”  


Her tongue poked at the inside of her cheek for a moment or two before she inhaled deeply through her nose and turned back to the man.  


“You know, that’s probably not the worst idea I’ve heard.”  


The man grinned before quickly seeming as if he were trying to hide it, clearing his throat and stepping aside to gesture to the pathway behind him.  


“Right this way, and I can get you set up nicely. I, uh, know an innkeeper who owes me a favor.”  


“Lead on.”  


He nodded and they fell in step beside each other as he led the way off the raised walkway they were currently standing on and farther into the city. Elisabet attempted to contain her excitement at actually getting to see what this place was like as they made their way down a set of stairs and into the sandy streets below. Immediately, the market they had found themselves in assaulted her senses with sights, sounds, and smells that seemed both familiar and foreign.  


Everywhere she looked, she swore she could see the influence of cultures ranging from areas of the Middle East to Central America, to perhaps Southern Europe. Vendors had brightly colored cloth and silk laid out on tables or hung from stands, while others stood by barrels of fruits and vegetables that looked healthier and more vibrant than anything she had seen in a long time. She couldn’t help herself as she came to a stop in front of one of the grocery merchants and reached down to grab a bright red pepper from one of the barrels at the front of the stall.  


“Grown fresh from the farmlands at the base of the mesa,” the merchant said, grinning.  


She turned it over in her hand several times, feeling the smooth skin of the vegetable under her fingers and trying to wrap her mind around the fact that this was not something grown in a lab, but an actual, honest-to-goodness farm grown food.  


“Aloy!”  


She continued to examine the pepper for a moment before the voice called again and the realization that they were actually talking to her seemed to sink in, sending a shiver down her spine at the sound of the name.  


“Aloy!”  


The man she had been travelling with appeared beside her and she finally glanced up from the vegetable in her hands.  


“Next time warn me when you’re going to just disappear like that, yeah?” he said, grinning.  


“Ah, Erend, is this another one of your lady friends, I’ll take it?”  


Elisabet’s head whipped around to look at the merchant to find him regarding the man beside her with an amused smirk. As she turned back to him, she found his face growing redder and redder.  


“No, this is… a new acquaintance… like a partner—uh, in the Vanguard. She’s helping me with something.”  


“Ah… I see, then,” the merchant said, seemingly not entirely convinced. “Well, has my crop passed your inspection? I know it may not be quite what you’re used to from Nora lands, but I can assure you that it is harmless and actually quite good.”  


“How much?”  


“Ten shards.”  


“Give her a break, Vanek,” the man beside her snapped. “She’s new around her, but not dumb.”  


“Fine, five shards. It’s my deal for… friends of the Vanguard.”  


Elisabet glanced over at him, once again, before feeling around for the pouch that she vaguely remembered had jingled when she had been searching them, previously. After a few seconds, and she still hadn’t found it, the man beside her suddenly held out his hand to the merchant.  


“I’ll cover her,” he said, dropping several small pieces of metal into the merchant’s outstretched hand.  


“Enjoy,” he replied, nodding as he slid the payment into a larger pouch tied to his belt and the man beside her began to lead Elisabet away.  


“Thanks, Erend,” she said, tentatively glancing at him to see if her attempt at what she could only assume was his name had been correct.  


“Don’t mention it,” he replied. “So, you ever have one of those before?”  


“Yeah—a long time ago.”  


He just nodded as Elisabet rubbed at it with the palm of her hand for a moment or two before shrugging and taking a bite straight out of the side of it. Immediately, the flavor filled her mouth and she felt herself begin to salivate uncontrollably. Memories of years long past, dinners at a small table in a house in Nevada, came rushing back to her and she let out a contented sigh.  


“That good, huh? I always thought he was full of shit.”  


“Tastes amazing to me,” she managed once she had swallowed her first bite.  


“You oughta try some of the actual dishes around here, then,” he laughed. “The Carja may be a lot of things, but bad cooks isn’t one of them.”  


“Sounds good, then,” Elisabet managed around another bite of the pepper, unable to keep herself from devouring it as quickly as she could.  


Erend glanced back at her and simply shook his head.  


“The inn’s right up here.”  


He nodded toward the right side of the street ahead of them and her eyes followed his gesture until she saw a building with a simple, wooden sign hanging from the front that advertised it as something like “Jira’s Inn and Canteen.”  


“ _Oh boy… the Motel 6 of the future._ ”  


As they approached, two men staggered out of the front door and into the street, laughing and talking at a near-shouting volume. Almost immediately, she recognized the armor they were wearing as nearly identical to Erend’s and she glanced between them. He let out a sigh as he shook his head, but pressed on. A moment later, the two men seemed to notice them and their faces lit up.  


“Hey, Cap!” one of them slurred, holding his arm around his buddy’s shoulders to keep himself on his feet.  


“Evening, gentlemen,” Erend replied flatly.  


“We was wondering why we hadn’t seen ya in there,” the other man said. “Shoulda figured s’because you’re out talkin’ with pretty girls.”  


“I think you need to go home and get a good night’s rest before the patrol in the morning.”  


Elisabet felt an odd feeling in her gut and frowned slightly, looking between the men and Erend. Doubt about the accommodations he had offered for the night was beginning to spread in the back of her mind, but she tried not to let it show as she finished off the last of the pepper and glanced around before tossing the seeded part in the center off to one side of the street.  


“Aw, c’mon Cap, we’s just messin’!”  


“And I wasn’t when I told you to get home.”  


The two men stared at him for a moment before heaving heavy sighs and turning to walk in the opposite direction.  


“C’mon, les’ leave Cap ‘n the lady alone.”  


“That’s enough! Got it?”  


The men jumped at the sudden bark of Erend’s voice, but quickly recovered and nodded, walking farther down the street. With a heavy sigh, he turned to look over at Elisabet, who was standing with her arms folded over her chest, watching the whole scene play out.  


“I apologize for them,” he said. “They’re good soldiers when they want to be, but they’re also bad drunks when they want to be, too.”  


“I see.”  


Silence fell over them for a moment or two before he gestured to the building the two men had originally exited.  


“Well, here’s the place, if you still want it.”  


Elisabet considered the outside of the building for a moment: it wasn’t in bad condition, and other than the lively sounds of what she could only assume was a bar just inside the front door, nothing about it seemed particularly intimidating or fear-inducing. Finally, she shrugged, glancing back over at Erend.  


“I guess I can see what it’s like on the inside.”  


When they approached the front door, Erend opened it and gestured for her to go ahead. As soon as she stepped through the doorway, however, she found herself not inside a raucous tavern in a strange, medieval-esque city, but in a corridor between two towering sets of what appeared to be computer servers. Glowing, blue lights lit either side of her as the hulking forms stretched a good ten feet above her head or so. She blinked rapidly before spinning around, not finding the door back onto the street, but the same aisle continuing in the opposite direction.  


“ _I am never going to get used to that transition._ ”  


With a heavy sigh, she ran her hands through her hair before activating her Focus.  


“GAIA?”  


“What is it, Aloy?”  


A shiver ran down her spine as she closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath in through her nose.  


“Not Aloy, GAIA.”  


“I apologize, Elisabet. I didn’t realize—”  


“I get it,” she interrupted. “Not much of a clue to cue you in, but… I’m back.”  


“This was a considerably shorter episode than other recent ones.”  


“I noticed.”  


With a sigh, she slowly began to turn in place, piecing together where she was standing.  


“Am I in APOLLO?”  


“Correct.”  


“Why did she come back here?”  


“She was curious.”  


“About what?”  


“Everything.”  


Elisabet frowned slightly, slowly ambling down the aisle of towering computers around her.  


“What was she looking at, specifically?”  


“She was curious about more of your background.”  


Elisabet paused where she was, hand held inches from the computer surface beside her.  


“More of my background?”  


A pause followed her statement before GAIA responded.  


“Elisabet, you may want to return to your office for the viewing of any recordings related to this.”  


“GAIA…”  


Her tone was somewhere between angry and panicked as she resumed walking, although at an increased pace.  


“What the hell did she get into?”  


“Elisabet, I’ve told you—”  


“Answer my fucking questions, goddammit!”  


She froze in place at her sudden outburst, her voice echoing about the cavernous space. After a few moments of tense silence, she heard footsteps approaching and her heart rate began to elevate, her eyes scanning for either the approaching figure or an exit, she couldn’t decide which. Before she truly took off running, or anything of the sort, a familiar shape appeared at the end of the aisle, her light blue headscarf shining under the blue lighting around her.  


“Elisabet?”  


Her jaw clenched, the sight of Samina particularly not one she wanted to see at the moment.  


“Is everything all right?”  


“Just… talking to Travis,” she shot back quickly.  


The other woman nodded slowly, but looked unconvinced. Her face conveyed how she wanted to say more, or perhaps that she understood more, but she reluctantly began to move away from the end of the aisle, disappearing from view, once again. 

Finally, Elisabet sighed and turned the other direction, walking down the aisle.  


“When I get back, you better have some answers for me.”

 

As soon as Elisabet entered her office, the image of GAIA standing in the center of the room confronted her, a somewhat apprehensive expression on her face.  


“Time to talk,” Elisabet snapped. “What has she been getting into the last couple of times?”  


“Your personal background,” the AI explained calmly.  


“What about me?”  


“She appears to be trying to piece together a better idea of who you are. She has accessed databases relating to your personal and professional life, leading up to and including the beginning of the Hartz-Timor Swarm.”  


“Has she given any indication why?”  


“Other than simple curiosity, no. Based on previous interactions, I would assume to explore the plausibility of you being related to her.”  


Elisabet closed her eyes as a shudder ran down her spine, once again, and she curled her hands into fists.  


“And what has she found?”  


“She has not expressed any strong conclusions aloud, unfortunately.”  


“Most importantly of all: why have you let her?”  


Confusion crossed the image’s face as Elisabet stared back at her, jaw set.  


“I did not see a reason to hamper her incursions.”  


Elisabet took a deep breath in through her nose before letting it out slowly and beginning to pace about the room.  


“I know next to nothing about her, but she’s been digging around on the internet about me… fucking perfect.”  


“Query: why do you believe this to be an issue?”  


“We know _nothing_ about her, GAIA!” Elisabet snapped, whirling to face the image of the woman in the center of the room. “We don’t know what she will do knowing that, or… _anything_! God-fucking-dammit!”  


She kicked out at the nearest wall, the sole of her shoe slamming against it and sending a shockwave of pain up her leg, prompting her to wince and place weight on it gingerly a moment later.  


“I do not believe she has pursued any of this with malicious intent.”  


“But we—don’t— _know_ —that!”  


“Elisabet—”  


“GAIA, don’t try to play the ‘good cop,’ right now.”  


The AI fell silent, the image watching her carefully with an unreadable expression on her face.  


“ _I almost miss when she didn’t look so human, at the moment._ ”  


“Query: do you have a reason to be wary of her actions based on your experiences?”  


Elisabet sighed deeply, rubbing her temples with her fingers.  


“I… don’t know. She seems… innocent enough, but… I mean, so did Ted, at first.”  


The silence that followed stretched on for an uncomfortable amount of time before Elisabet sighed and resumed her pacing.  


“These last two episodes, I’ve seen… a city.”  


“The destroyed one, again?”  


“No, a… new one. As in… new to…”  


Elisabet stopped mid-step, staring straight ahead for a moment before spinning around to face GAIA.  


“I know when Aloy… lives.”  


GAIA’s eyebrows raised as she remained silent, waiting for her answer.  


“Or—rather— _will_ live.”  


The look of interest on GAIA’s face only grew as Elisabet swallowed nervously.  


“GAIA… the date on the Focus that I used there… is almost a thousand years in the future.”  


Confusion crossed the image’s face as Elisabet let out a shuddering sigh, running her hands through her hair.  


“It said 3019 on it… so unless it’s broken or fucked up somehow…”  


The edges of her vision began to fade slightly as she felt her chest heaving, her lungs suddenly constricted by her ribcage. The sound of the AI’s reassuring voice vaguely filtered through to her, but it felt almost as if she were at the other end of a large tunnel. The image of the Focus interface with the date of September 3019 began to fill her vision. Soon, other voices seemed to filter through the haze, distinctly not GAIA’s, and seemingly more than she would expect in her office. It sounded like…  


A moment later, her eyes flew open and she found herself staring at a rough-hewn stone surface several feet away from her. Her eyes widened further as she turned her head to look around, only to realize that something was behind her, pressed against her back. She tried to step forward, but her feet didn’t seem to find any ground and she momentarily panicked, flailing desperately until the sensation of gravity pushing down on her from above slowly began to sink in and she turned her head to find what appeared to be a mattress of some sort beneath her.  


Her motions slowly came to rest as she ran her hands over what appeared to be a soft, fur blanket beneath them. After a few more seconds of deep breathing, she sat upright, looking around the rest of the room. The space looked similar to many hotel rooms she had stayed in before, but in the style of something from the middle ages. The walls were made of stone and brick, while the floors seemed to be wooden, the surface worn from use, but otherwise unstained like a modern structure would be. A small desk sat against the wall ahead of her, offset slightly from the foot of the bed, a vanity mirror propped up on top of it. Her gaze drifted from the desk to the single window on the wall to her right, a brilliant, golden light pouring through it from outside. The glass was sectioned off by rather detailed metalwork with ornate designs visible in the four farthest corners.  


It dawned on her that it was open as a breeze blew through it and hit her, sending a shiver through her and spreading goosebumps across her back. At the thought, she froze, quickly reaching back to feel her bare skin rather than the leather tunic she had grown accustomed to. Her gaze quickly fell to look down at herself to find the blankets bunched around her waist, clearly revealing her bare torso.  


A small yelp escaped her lips as she hurriedly wrapped the sheets up to her collar bone, glancing around fearfully for a moment or two before reassuring herself that she was alone in the room. With several deep, careful breaths, she forced herself to take stock of her surroundings, once again.  


“ _Well, that was quite the welcome._ ”  


She didn’t immediately see anything that looked like the typical clothes she had come to expect in Aloy’s world, but instead found some made out of brightly colored silk piled on a thinly-padded chair off to her right. Glancing around the room once more to assure herself she was alone, she slipped from underneath the sheets and stepped over to the chair. The clothing appeared to consist of a simple top and skirt section, both feeling rather light and smooth to the touch. She held the light blue top up and thankfully noted that it didn’t appeared to be translucent in any capacity.  


“The last thing I’d need right now is…”  


Her thought trailed off as she happened to glance toward the desk and caught her reflection in the mirror. She had seen the reflection in her first major episode, back at the log cabin, but that had only been fleeting, and she had been unable to make herself look at it for any length of time. Now, standing across the room from the much bigger mirror on the desk, she was able to take in much more than she had then.  


“Much _more,_ ” she thought as she also took in the distinct lack of clothing.  


Something felt odd to her about staring at the reflection, almost as if she were peeping on someone she shouldn’t, but at the same time… it was her. No matter how much this Aloy seemed to be entirely different, armed to the teeth for fighting and wearing clothing unlike anything she had seen in her life, she was the same. Strip away all of the strange elements and she was left with an image that she swore she had seen in the mirror, herself, almost twenty to thirty years ago.  


Elisabet unconsciously dropped the clothing back onto the chair as she slowly turned to face the mirror. Her hands instinctually reached up to touch her face, almost as if to remind herself that it was real, the reflection mirroring her actions as she felt her fingers poke at her cheek, gently. There was no denying that this image of herself was much more toned and in shape than she had ever been in her life, but looking past all that, the thought still remained. Her eyes sought out the small nicks and scars that dotted her body, ranging from what appeared to be small cuts and a few old burns, to the most prominent and noticeable one on her throat. Her fingers slowly traced over it, shivering as she felt the raised skin where something sharp had come very close to ending her life, at one point.  


“This is too weird…”  


For once, as well, her hair was no longer tied back in the intricate series of braids she had seen before, instead let loose into a wild, frizzy mane behind her; she could easily feel the tips brushing against her shoulder blades. After a few more long moments of staring into the freckled face and hazel eyes, she shivered, folding her arms over her chest.  


“Who are you…?”  


With a sigh, she turned back to the chair and began to pull on the clothing. After a little while longer than she was used to taking to get dressed, she had managed to properly don everything in the pile, or at least she hoped so. She had tucked the end of the light blue shirt into the red skirt section since it had come almost halfway down her thighs when she had worn it normally, as well as taking on the general shape of a tent. The skirt came down to just below her knees and seemed to sway remarkably easily, the hem almost constantly shifting and twirling slightly. The silky fabric was remarkably light for how opaque it seemed, and she welcomed the change from the heavy, constricting tunic she had been wearing, previously, especially as she already felt the heat rising in the room as the sun grew in strength.  


Glancing in the mirror, once again, she admired the clothes, trying to place what kind of influence from her time she would apply to them before settling on something in the Mediterranean region, perhaps. As her eyes drifted upwards from the clothing, she caught sight of the wild shock of red hair, once again, and frowned slightly. She didn’t have to attempt to put it up in the signature hairstyle she had seen before to know she would fail at doing so, prompting her to heave a heavy sigh and glance around the room. After a few moments of searching, she found a pile of familiar weapons and bags at the foot of the bed and she knelt down beside it. On top of the pile sat a small collection of ribbons and beads that she recognized as having previously been used to hold the mane of hair back into the various braids. Grabbing one of the ribbons, she stood up and stepped in front of the mirror.  


It had been years since she had attempted to actually do anything with her hair other than pull it back into a short ponytail when it hung in her way while working, but she knew that would look somewhat ridiculous at its current length. Ten minutes and much muttering and cursing later, she had managed to tie most of her hair back in a messy braid, the blue ribbon she had found securely wrapped around the end to attempt to hold it all in place. Heaving a sigh of relief, she looked at her reflection, once again.  


“Not too bad.”  


She shrugged and turned to walk toward the door when something out of the corner of her eye drew her attention. Turning to face it, she found her Focus sitting on the small bedside table she had neglected to notice earlier. She carefully moved around the pile of gear and the bed to retrieve it, placing the device against her right ear and prompting the interface to open around her.  


She quickly scanned through the “to do” list only to find that the step of investigating Olin’s apartment had changed to: “Find Olin at the excavation site.”  


“Super helpful, thanks Aloy,” she muttered under her breath, closing the list and staring blankly at the home screen for a few moments.  


Suddenly, an idea sparked in her and she navigated to the journals menu. She may not have access to a large computer database in this world—if she could call it that—but she did have the logs of Aloy’s actual thoughts. Scrolling through the entries to the earliest one, she realized that they dated back years. A small smile pulled at her lips. It wasn’t a definitive biography, but it was something.  


She glanced around the room before moving over to the chair by the window and taking a seat in it, instinctually crossing her legs before her as she leaned forward slightly.  


“Okay, Aloy… let’s take a look at who you are.”


	24. Favors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday, and happy five-month anniversary of this story! It's so strange to me how that much time has already passed, and how much bigger/longer this story got, as well. I never expected it to a) receive the amount of response that it has and b) end up as such a huge undertaking. This isn't the final chapter, by any means, so I hope you will continue to stick around for the time being! 
> 
> As a little "bonus" for this week, I will be posting a "deleted scene" that was originally supposed to take place during this chapter and the last one, but was cut due to length and other reasons. Despite that, I still enjoy it, and felt like some people might get a kick out of it, as well. Be on the lookout for that later in the week.
> 
> Anyhoo, back to the story. Some serious things are about to go down.

As she moved through the earliest journals, she began to piece together the most basic elements of her story. She had been forced to live outside the Nora “tribe” as a child, growing up with someone named “Rost,” which she had not realized was an actual name, at first. Digging deeper, she found more on how this girl seemed to have never known her mother, but desperately wished to for most of her childhood.  


“ _Certainly explains how quickly she made that leap when she made that video for me._ ”  


After a certain point, most of them began to tell stories of intensive training under this Rost, who taught her how to fight and survive. Her eyebrows raised at some of the descriptions of trainings, many of them seemingly exceedingly harsh for a child, but she also didn’t have a great frame of reference for exactly how old Aloy would have been when she had written these specific journals. She remembered the date of the most recent being in 3019, but she had no idea how old she actually was at the current time; her best guess still left a range of about 18 to 25.  


After a while of working her way through Aloy’s journal entries, exploring her inner thoughts, concerns, and wonderings about the world and people around her, a loud knocking caused her to jump and nearly fall out of the chair. Composing herself as quickly as she could, she closed the Focus interface and rose to her feet, grimacing at the stiffness that had settled into her legs.  


“Y-yes?”  


“Aloy?”  


“…Yes?”  


“It’s Jira, the owner? I wanted to give you your clothes back.”  


“ _Well, that explains that… sort of._ ”  


“And Erend is here.”  


Her eyes widened slightly as she inhaled sharply through her nose. She slowly let out the breath through her mouth before stretching her arms overhead, eliciting a groan. As she pulled open the door, a tall woman with curly, blonde hair stood just outside, a pile of clothing held in her arms and a curious expression on her face.  


“Ah, I see the clothes fit you, after all,” she said, looking Elisabet over quickly, “better than they do me, I’d dare even say.”  


“Oh, well, uh… thanks.”  


“Well, here’s yours back, all clean and tidy. Don’t worry, I have experience working with leather, so I didn’t ruin anything.”  


Elisabet gave her a small smile and nodded awkwardly, reaching out to take the offered pile.  


“I’ll change out of these quick and give them back,” she said, glancing down at the flowing, silky outfit she had found upon waking up. “I’ve barely worn them so they—”  


“You know what? Keep ‘em. Consider it a welcoming gift to Meridian.”  


Elisabet froze mid-word for a moment before swallowing and nodding.  


“Thanks, then.”  


“Like I said, they look better on you anyway.”  


The woman gave her a coy wink before turning to walk back down the hallway.  


“Erend is waiting downstairs. I’ll keep him occupied for a few more minutes while you change.”  


Elisabet stared after the woman in a frozen state for a few moments before shaking her head and snapping out of her trance. Stepping inside the room, once again, she closed the door perhaps a little too aggressively and winced at the loud slam. A moment later, she let out a heavy sigh and glanced down at the clothes before her.  


“ _They were a little hot, and it’s not getting any cooler out there, it seems…_ ”  


Biting her lip for a moment, she shrugged and packed the clothes in the pack at the foot of the bed. It took her another minute or two to fully figure out how to rig up the various tools, weapons, and pouches that she had grown accustomed to wearing, but she eventually figured out a system that allowed her to still carry all of it on her person. With the final touch being the bow slung across her torso. As she turned to head out the door, she caught her reflection in the mirror, one last time, and couldn’t help but smirk at the image of the girl in the bright, colorful clothing loaded down with deadly weapons and tools.  


“ _Too bad I didn’t do more archery after I was a kid, I could have been this cool in college._ ”  


With an actual laugh under her breath, she turned away and made for the door. On the other side sat an empty hallway, although the sounds of loud voices drifted from off to her right, prompting her to follow them. She soon reached a staircase leading down to the first floor, where she found the tavern she had expected to enter the night before when she had suddenly found herself in APOLLO, instead.  


A strange feeling settled in her gut as the realization that the facility she knew so well in her own life was almost a thousand years old, here, hit her. She inhaled deeply through her nose, pausing on the bottom step for a moment before sighing heavily and entering the main part of the room.  


Erend was standing by the far end of the bar on her right, leaning against it as he conversed with the blonde woman Elisabet had spoken to earlier. Both of them were laughing and speaking at rather loud volumes, making them easy to hear, even from the other side of the room. As she was almost halfway to them, Erend’s eyes seemed to find her and she noticed how he gave her a once-over before clearing his throat and shifting his stance to more fully face her.  


“Good morning, Aloy,” he said. “How’d you sleep?”  


“I… uh… well, I guess.”  


“Well, that’s good,” he replied, nodding slowly. “Well, uh, hungry?”  


“I could eat.”  


“Here, I’ll get you something so you’re all fed before your big, mysterious trip with the _Captain_ , here,” Jira, the owner and bartender, apparently, said.  


Aloy just nodded in thanks as she moved off down the bar in the opposite direction, leaving her alone with Erend.  


“You haven’t told anyone where we’re going?” she asked, casually playing with the end of her braid, running her thumb over the soft, stray ends at the tip.  


“Don’t want to make a fuss,” he shrugged. “Ersa’s… death… is a… sore topic right now. For everyone.”  


Elisabet simply nodded slowly, leaning against the bar and folding her arms over her chest.  


“Did Jira give you those clothes?”  


His tone sounded casual, but she could see from the tenseness in his shoulders and how his hands couldn’t seem to remain still that he was truly just seeking something to take his mind off the previous topic.  


“Yeah, said I could keep them, too.”  


“You running a charity out of here, now, too?” he called, looking past Elisabet as she glanced back to see the blonde woman returning with a steaming bowl of something.  


“Oh, please,” she shot back, rolling her eyes. “Like you wouldn’t give her the shirt off your back if she needed it.”  


Elisabet’s eyebrows raised slightly as she looked over at Erend, once again, to see his face reddening. Jira let out a short laugh, drawing her attention, once again, just as the wooden bowl slid in front of her, a metal spoon sticking out of its contents.  


“You ever had Oseram cuisine?”  


“Can’t say I have.”  


“You’re in for a treat, then. A lot of us can’t cook for shit, but luckily for you: I can.”  


Elisabet regarded her with an amused look before looking down at the bowl in front of her. It was full of what appeared to be some kind of soup; she could make out chunks of meat and potatoes, as well as a few other vegetables. The smell, alone, was intoxicating and she had to concentrate to avoid drooling uncontrollably.  


“Be careful, it’s hot.”  


Elisabet gave her an admonishing look and Jira laughed.  


“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”  


She carefully took her first spoonful of the soup and immediately let out an involuntary sigh.  


“I call that a victory.”  


Elisabet finished the rest of the bowl’s contents as quickly as she dared due to its scalding temperature, but within only a few minutes, she had slid it back across the bar and wiped the back of her mouth with her hand. Whatever it was, it was similar to some kind of beef stew she remembered having, and it was at least miles better than anything she had tasted in months at the various facilities she had shuffled between.  


“ _If only I could just eat every meal here, instead,_ ” crossed her mind, prompting her to grin slightly, “ _and doom Aloy to the shitty cafeteria food. Sorry._ ”  


“Well, now that you’re all fed and well-rested, shall we get on our way?”  


She turned to Erend, nodding as she adjusted the position of the bow across her torso slightly.  


“Thanks, Jira. I owe you one, now.”  


“If it’s Aloy you’re bringing back, don’t even worry about it,” she shot back, smiling coyly.  


Elisabet felt her cheeks grow hot as she waved sheepishly and turned to follow Erend out the front door. As soon as they were outside, the wave of sound from the throngs of people moving about the street hit her and she blinked rapidly. It was like stepping from a small bed and breakfast right onto a street in New York City.  


“We should make Red Ridge Pass by noon,” Erend said, glancing back at her and nodding off to his right. “C’mon, let’s get going.”  


Elisabet nodded in response, following after him as she took in the sights of the city around her. There was so much to see that seemed to only cause her eyes to open wider with each new thing. In the first few blocks, she had already counted four distinct clothing styles on the various people they passed, as well as ten different types of merchants. She wanted to stop at each one, but Erend plowed ahead, barely breaking stride except when forced to by crowds in the congested streets. Finally, they broke free from one of the busier marketplace areas she had seen thus far and crossed a relatively open courtyard. At first, all she saw were the two walkways jutting out from the main, walled pathway that ran around the edge of the city walkways, but as her eyes followed along them, she stopped in her tracks, mouth falling open slightly at the sight of the large, metal structures before her.  


Erend had reached the main control lever roughly twenty feet ahead of her before realizing that she was no longer with him and glancing back. With a smirk, he placed his fingers in the corners of his lips and let out a loud whistle, causing Elisabet to jump and let out a yelp in surprise.  


“The elevators are even more impressive inside, you know.”  


She slowly began to walk toward him and the metal grates that made up the doors to the primitive elevator system, her eyes still glued to the looming structure. Everything she had seen thus far seemed firmly rooted in the vaguely medieval level of technology that dominated everything from her weapons to the structures in the city, itself, but this seemed to go a step further. As the car came into view, she noted how they had managed to rig up the counterweight system to make the whole device move smoothly, and wished she had more time to investigate the actual control lever Erend had used, but he was ushering her into the car, a moment later.  


“Never seen anything like ‘em, huh?”  


“Not quite, no…”  


They rode in silence down to the bottom, where the steel grates slid open and Erend led the way out into the village at the base of the mesa. It was obvious that this area was much less affluent than where they had just been just from the clothing of the first people she saw: the bright, flashy colors were replaced with dull grays and browns, and the fancy silks were swapped for rough, heavy fabric, one woman’s dress seemingly made of something like burlap, even.  


“This is the lower village,” Erend explained, “where most of the actual workers live. The nobles and wealthy live on the mesa, itself.”  


“I noticed.”  


Erend’s lips pulled into a thin line as he glanced over the scene of the village before clearing his throat and tapping Elisabet on the shoulder.  


“Come on, we should get going.”

 

By the time they had left the city behind and were entering a desert-like area full of hot sand and red rock formations, Elisabet was beginning to grow a little concerned. True to his word, the trip took them until the sun was almost directly overhead, which meant that it had to have been hours since she had woken up back at the inn.  


“ _Now is not really the time I’d want Aloy to have to deal with everything at the facility for hours on end…_ ” crossed her mind, but there was seemingly nothing she could do about it. “ _I just hope to god there isn’t a shitstorm in full effect when I get back._ ”  


The thought of “ _if I get back_ ” crossed her mind for a moment and she quickly shook her head.  
“ _No, let’s not get into that right now._ ”  


“Here we are.”  


Erend’s voice broke her out of her reverie and she came to a short stop in order to avoid running into him. They were standing beside a river in a seemingly innocuous and random spot.  


“This is where they were found… massacred.”  


Elisabet took a closer look at the area and realized that the spot was seemingly not so random, after all. A few weapons lay in the middle of some scraggly bushes nearby, while dark patches stained the otherwise light-colored sand in various places.  


“Do you… _could_ you take a look and see what you find?”  


Elisabet just nodded, stepping around Erend and moving closer to what she was quickly figuring out was a crime scene. This is where they must have found the body of Ersa… whoever that was. Her best guess was either a family member of a lover, based on his reaction, earlier.  


“ _Okay, time to put this thing through its paces._ ”  


Her hand reached up to tap her focus, but as she did, the same ear-piercing sound that had occurred in her first major episode appeared, prompting her to let out a groan of pain and reach for the device. She vaguely heard the sound of a voice nearby calling out in concern, but it was drowned out by the painful noise in her right ear. A moment later, it seemed to stop as she finally managed to rip the small device from its perch. She let out a heavy sigh as glanced down at it in her hand.  


“ _What the hell was that?_ ”  


“Whoa, there, uh, everything okay, Lizzy?”  


She froze at the sound of the voice nearby. It was one she recognized, and not just from hearing it all morning. Her head snapped up to see Travis standing in front of her, both eyebrows raised slightly.  


“I’ve never seen a Focus bite someone before, but… hell, I’ll believe almost anything these days.”  


“I… uh…”  


Elisabet stared down at the device in her hand, once again, before deciding she didn’t feel like putting it quite so close to her ear, just yet, and looking back up at the man before her.  


“Must be some weird malfunction. I’ll take a look at it later.”  


He just nodded slowly, folding his arms over his chest.  


“You, uh, sure that’s the only thing strange goin’ on?”  


She regarded him with an odd look for a few moments before he cleared his throat.  


“Lis, Charles talked to me earlier—”  


“Oh, god, not his shit again.”  


Travis stopped mid-sentence, looking at her curiously.  


“What did he tell you?”  


“Just that you’ve been acting strange, which, I’ve seen with my own two eyes, mind you, but I think what takes the cake is you comin’ down here and talkin’ all friendly after snappin’ at me the other day.”  


Elisabet sighed, rubbing her eyes with one hand.  


“I… don’t want to burn bridges, here,” she began, “that’s why I came down. It’s not worth any of our time to hate each other, right now.”  


“Lis, I didn’t hate you—”  


“No, but I certainly did a good job pissing you off.”  


Travis laughed, folding his arms over his chest as he shifted his stance slightly.  


“You should know by now that nothing grinds my gears faster than someone in charge, regardless of what they say.”  


“Yeah, and—”  


“Listen, don’t worry so much about what you said the other day. S’probably just stress, I get it. What you probably oughta worry about, though, is that footage Charles’ got.”  


The feeling of ice water dumping into her veins came over Elisabet as her head instantly snapped around to stare at Travis, her eyes widening.  


“What?”  


“Charlie didn’t just tell me crazy stories, he had some kind of… recording that he showed me, too.”  


“What was it of?”  


“You.”  


“Doing what?”  


“Acting strange, not remembering things, and denying anything was wrong.”  


Elisabet’s hands instinctually curled into fists as she fought to keep herself from running out the door and tracking down the man right then and there.  


“And what did you think of it?”  


“Y’know, I’d think it looks like someone who’s pretty stressed out, but… I’ve seen some things, myself, mind you.”  


“So then you believe him?”  


“Lis, I ain’t here to take sides. We all care about ya, all right? We care about everyone here. It’s a fucked up world and a fucked up situation out there, and I know I go on about my death metal and my old-school cult movie bullshit, but… what we’re doing here is important, I know. We just want to make sure it gets done as well as it can be before the robo-pocalypse is in full swing, ya know?”  


Elisabet let out a sigh, her shoulders slumping as she carefully took a seat on the edge of a nearby desktop, gripping the lip of the surface on either side of her firmly.  


“I saw Samina lookin’ pretty down last night.”  


She glanced over toward Travis as he slowly leaned against the edge of the same desk, but a foot or two away.  


“I know you two gals are pretty good friends and all, so I had to assume something was up, especially after Charlie talked to me.”  


“She’s not my girlfriend, Travis.”  


“I know, I know!” he raised his hands defensively, leaning away from her. “I’m just tryin’ to say… things don’t go unnoticed around here, and everything affects everyone.”  


Elisabet stared at him for a few long moments before letting out a low chuckle and shaking her head.  


“Out of all the things I expected to hear from you… anything reassuring was not particularly one of them.”  


“Now, you’re givin’ me too much credit.”  


She glanced over at him once again and they both laughed. Once they had died down, once again, Elisabet let out a heavy sigh and ran her hands through her hair, biting her lower lip softly.  


“Did Charles tell you what he was planning to do with his information?”  


“Well, he mentioned something about—”  


Just then, the doors to the lab area slid open with an electronic chime as a figure walked through them. Elisabet jumped in surprise, quickly launching to her feet at the sight of who it was.  


“Travis, I needed to talk to you—”  


He came to a sudden halt at the sight of the fuming redhead staring him down, his eyes widening slightly.  


“Elisabet.”  


“Is something wrong with ARTEMIS?” she asked quietly. “Or are you helping out with HADES for a bit?”  


He remained silent, simply staring back at her for several long moments.  


“Neither.”  


“Well, at least you aren’t trying to lie.”  


“Elisabet, I’ve already told you—”  


“Travis says you have a video of me. I want to see it.”  


He froze mid-thought, reeling back somewhat in surprise.  


“I-I…”  


“Is it the same one you sent to Ted?”  


At that, she heard the sound of Travis getting to his feet behind her.  


“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you did what, Charlie?”  


“Why him, Charles?”  


Under the pressure from both of them, he had begun to slowly back toward the door, mouth open as he searched for some kind of answer.  


“I-I felt… like…”  


“What, the man who created a swarm of deathbots that is slowly devouring the Earth would be a good ally for whatever kind of crazy campaign you’re trying to lead?”  


“Dr. Sobeck, I’m only trying—”  


“Oh, don’t patronize me,” she huffed, “we don’t have time for this kind of bullshit when we’ve only got a month, at best, before zero day.”  


At that, the entire room fell deathly silent. The realization that no one but her had known that fact until that very moment began to sink in as Elisabet’s shoulders and fists began to relax, her aggressive stance fading to a much more defeated-looking one as she felt both men’s eyes boring into her.  


“You, uh, want to run that by us one more time, Lizzy?”  


She sighed, hanging her head as she ran one hand over her face.  


“I think all of the Alphas need to hear this.”


	25. Deleted Scene - Jira's Inn and Tavern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, a little later than I expected to upload this, but as I mentioned, here is a little deleted scene that was originally supposed to be somewhere in the last two chapters, but ended up getting cut for various reasons, despite how much it amused me. So, here we are. Enjoy the little bonus content and see y'all Monday for the next real installment!

As soon as they entered, she swore images of dive bars from grad school flashed before her eyes and she began to worry that she was somehow travelling through time, but they disappeared a moment later as she shook her head. The main downstairs of the inn appeared to simply be a bar, its current patrons not large in number, but more than making up for it in volume. At the sound of the door opening and closing, several glanced their direction, their eyes noticeably lingering on Elisabet for a moment longer than Erend, but quickly turned back to their conversations or their drinks before them.  


“Look who made it in time for his nightly ritual!”  


Elisabet’s eyes were drawn to the woman behind the bar who she was surprised she had missed at first. She was easily close to Erend’s height, with shoulders almost as wide. A smug smirk sat on her face as she moved to the end of the bar closer to them, shaking a lock of curly, blonde hair from her face as she leaned forward against the wooden construction.  


“Will it be the usual?”  


“Actually, I have some—other—business to discuss first.”  


“Oh?”  


Erend glanced back at Elisabet before clearing his throat and moving up to the bar.  


“My friend here is new in town, and she needs a place for the night.”  


The bartender eyed Elisabet up and down and she felt a feeling of unease settle in her stomach as she fidgeting with a strap near her waist.  


“Will you be needing a room for two?”  


“No,” Erend cut in quickly, sparing a sheepish glance back before clearing his throat and continuing at a normal pace and volume. “No, just for one.”  


The bartender eyed him curiously for a moment before nodding slowly.  


“Well, you’re in luck: I have a room open.”  


“Great, now—”  


“So, new in town and already making friends in high places?”  


The bartender blatantly ignored whatever Erend had begun to say, turning to Elisabet, who started at actually being addressed for the first time in the conversation.  


“Uh… yeah, I suppose so.”  


“We met at—”  


“What’s your name?”  


“E—”  


She froze for a moment, her name at the tip of her tongue as she caught herself. Her heartbeat accelerated quickly as she swallowed nervously, desperately hoping none of this was coming across as obvious to the other two.  


“A-Aloy.”  


“Eh-Aloy? I knew Nora names could be odd, but I didn’t suspect quite that level.”  


“Aloy—just… Aloy.”  


The bartender regarded her for another moment or two with an interested expression before smirking, once again.  


“Okay, ‘Just Aloy,’ how did you meet this’un?”  


Erend’s lips contorted into a slight scowl as amusement tugged at Elisabet’s. The emotion quickly passed as she realized that she had no earthly idea how they had actually met. For all she knew, it could have been when they were children, or even just the other day. In her previous episode, he had mentioned that he had thought she was dead, so was surprised when she had shown up…  


“I-it’s… a long story.”  


“One that’s not really worth getting into, at the moment,” Erend cut in, his tone curt. “Listen, can you do me a favor for her?”  


“A favor? For you?”  


The bartender’s eyebrows raised as she pushed back from the bar and laughed. A moment later, she glanced over toward Elisabet and looked her up and down, once again, before focusing on Erend.  


“I’ll let her stay because I like her, regardless of what you think I owe you.”  


Elisabet felt her cheeks grow hot as she shuffled her stance slightly. Erend looked between them for a moment, his expression incredulous before sighing and shaking his head.  


“Here, I’ve got a key somewhere…”  


The bartender turned to face a board with many rows of pegs attached to it, most empty. She glanced over it quickly before grabbing one of the last remaining few at the bottom and looking at the end of it.  


“This should be the right one.”  


She turned and suddenly tossed the large, brass key toward Elisabet. Her instincts seemed to kick in reflexively, her eyes locking onto the object flying toward her as the world around seemed to slow for a moment. The next thing she knew, her hand had shot out and snatched the key from mid-air, the warm brass now firmly held in her palm. A hearty laugh came from in front of her and she glanced up to see the bartender with an amused expression while Erend simply looked impressed.  


“Nice catch, ‘Just Aloy.’”  


After pouring a mug of some kind of alcohol “to keep Erend distracted for a minute,” the bartender led Elisabet up a set of stairs in the back to the second floor. A long hallway with numerous doors on either side greeted them as they arrived on the landing.  


“That should be for room thirteen, which is on the left up here.”  


“ _My lucky number._ ”  


Elisabet followed her down the hallway until she stopped at the sixth door on the left. The lock was heavier than she expected, but she managed to get it open without embarrassing herself too much in front of the other woman. Near-darkness greeted them as the door swung open, the pale twilight from a single window on the far end faintly illuminating the space enough to give the outlines of furniture. The bartender grabbed a lit torch from a bracket a little ways down the hallway before stepping into the room and moving across it. Within seconds, she had lit a small lantern hanging by the window, the light it provided easily filling the space.  


“Look up to your standards?”  


Elisabet surveyed the room, taking in the wooden bed draped in what looked like some kind of fur blanket, while a small table complete with a vanity mirror sat slightly offset from it on the opposite wall. A single, thinly-padded chair sat in the far corner by the window, completing the sparse furnishings of the space. It wasn’t the biggest or nicest hotel room she had ever stayed in, but it certainly seemed a lot better than a hammock or sleeping bag in the wilderness, no matter how much she may have liked camping.  


“It’s fine for what I need.”  


“Yeah, I’ve heard you Nora live ‘by the least.’”  


Confusion creased Elisabet’s face as the bartender grinned.  


“Am I incorrect?”  


Memories of the cabin from her first true episode suddenly came back to her and she found herself nodding in response.  


“I suppose you’re right.”  


The bartender simply grinned triumphantly before moving toward the door, once again.  


“I have to say, though,” she said as she approached, stopping just short of the door as Elisabet moved aside to allow her through, “I didn’t know the Nora made such pretty girls.”  


If her face had felt warm before, it now felt as if it were on fire as she found herself unable to make eye contact with the other woman. A hearty laugh resounded about the room before a strong hand clapped her on the shoulder.  


“Oh, don’t look embarrassed,” she chided, “or be so modest.”  


“Thank you for the room,” Elisabet mumbled, playing with her nails as she barely lifted her head to look at the other woman.  


“If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m sure Erend will be downstairs for a little while longer, too. If you fancy a drink, one or two will be on me. Or him. I haven’t decided, yet.”  


With that, the bartender exited the room, replacing the torch on the bracket outside, before walking back in the direction of the stairs. Elisabet listened to her footsteps retreating before letting out a heavy sigh and pushing the door closed. As she took a seat on the edge of the bed, she found that it was much firmer than she had anticipated, but quickly reminded herself that it was still softer than the ground or the bedroll she had experienced previously. Running one hand through the mane of hair behind her, she made a face at the greasy texture and quickly wiped her hand on the edge of her skirt.  


“ _If only there were a way to take a bath around here._ ”  


A yawn suddenly forced its way out of her and she rubbed at her eyes with one hand. She wanted to just fall back on the bed and close her eyes, but the plethora of tools and deadly weapons affixed to her person forced her to stand up, once again, and carefully figure out how to remove all of them. Once she had placed the spear, bow, and assorted bags and supplies, as well as the outer layers of her outfit, on the floor next to the small desk, she padded back over to the bed and carefully laid upon it. The surface seemed softer this time, but as her eyelids began to sink, she wondered if perhaps she had just accepted it due to the fatigue that had hit her out of nowhere.


	26. Blood On Her Hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, it's late where I am right now... but it's tradition now, so I can't break it. This turned out to be a huge chapter by accident, but it also includes of actual action. I wasn't lying when I said things would be ramping up. Enjoy, and happy Monday.

The conference room was uncharacteristically silent as five pairs of eyes stared at Elisabet, waiting for her to finally speak. She had sent out an urgent notice to the entire team only minutes ago, telling them to drop whatever they had been doing and meet at this location. The message hadn’t contained any more information than that, but it clearly didn’t take much for everyone else to read between the lines. Finally, she sighed, gripping the back of the chair at the head of the table for support.  


“I… there’s something I have to tell all of you.”  


The hum of the lights overhead seemed as loud as cannon fire in the completely still space.  


“Yesterday morning, General Herres contacted me. He said the East Coast front has collapsed. Operation Enduring Victory is not going to hold out much longer. The timeline ‘till Zero Day has been moved up, because of this. Predictions are about a month, or more accurately just under.”  


Motion finally returned to the room as everyone’s posture seemed to slouch, several people even standing up and beginning to pace about the space around the table.  


“Now, there’s… more bad news.”  


Once again, all five pairs of eyes snapped to her and she suddenly found herself unable to look at any of them.  


“I think we all know that, while we’re incredibly close to Zero Dawn’s completion, the installation is a different matter.”  


Her hands clenched around the padded material of the chair as she took a deep breath.  


“There is a very good chance that we wouldn’t be able to fully install at GAIA Prime before Zero Day… before the doors at Elysium are closed.”  


As she glanced up, she could see the color drain from each Alpha member’s face. She didn’t have to say more to drive the implication home, but she couldn’t stop there, unfortunately.  


“Herres posed a possible plan to me. Due to the early plans of the Lightkeeper Protocol, the facility is equipped with the necessary components to support life: living quarters, food, water, and life support systems to keep the space livable, even after Zero Day, just like Elysium.”  


She knew the words she had to say next, but every fiber of her being seemed to be trying to prevent her from actually letting them out. Finally, with one last deep breath, she found the courage.  


“The plan would be to seal us in with GAIA Prime to oversee the final installation, rather than at Elysium.”  


Even the hum of the lights seemed to have stopped as she stared down at the metal table before her. After several long, agonizing seconds, someone else’s voice broke the silence.  


“Well, I’d say: what’s the point of us doing all this if it doesn’t actually get used, in the end?”  


Everyone turned to look at Travis at the sound of his voice and he glanced around at each person, in turn.  


“I mean, this whole thing really sucks, but… yeah.”  


Despite the situation, Elisabet couldn’t help but to grin as she slowly shook her head. One by one, the rest of the team began to voice similar opinions, until it was just down to Charles. They locked eyes for a moment before he cleared his throat, shuffling his feet slightly as he glanced down at the table.  


“Like Travis said, we’ve come too far now to say ‘oh well’ and pack it in.”  


Elisabet nodded, glancing around the room, once again.  


“I wish I didn’t have to put any of you in this position, and… I’m truly sorry for it. I also thank each and every one of you for… everything.”  


Her eyes happened to drift to Samina standing in the far corner of the room, a small, sad smile on her face. Elisabet’s lips pulled into a thin line in response before she cleared her throat, pushing off of the chair and standing up straight.  


“So, I guess that means we’ve got our work cut out for us.”  


Everyone murmured agreement as they slowly began to file out of the room, several members conversing amongst themselves, although with seemingly lower spirits than usual. With a heavy, shuddering sigh, Elisabet began to move toward the door, herself. As she approached, one figure remained behind the rest, leaning against the wall ahead. She swallowed nervously, unsure of what to say, but the figure stepped forward, cutting her off before she could actually do anything, and wrapped her in an embrace.  


“I knew that General Herres calling you so early in the morning wasn’t good,” Samina began, “but I never fully expected this.”  


Elisabet slowly returned the embrace, nodding as she did.  


“Yeah, it… Neither did I.”  


Finally, the two women broke apart, Samina taking a step or two back before heaving a heavy sigh.  


“Well, on one hand, I think you may have successfully gotten Charles off your back.”  


They both laughed quietly as Elisabet slowly nodded, running one hand through her hair.  


“I… listen, I’m sorry for betraying your trust.”  


Her eyes lifted to the woman across from her, meeting the red, watery look that greeted her.  


“I hope we can still work together as colleagues toward one goal.”  


Elisabet gave her a small smile, clearing her throat.  


“I’d still like to be friends, too.”  


Samina’s lips parted in a smile.  


“I’m… still not happy about… what happened, but… we’ve got bigger problems to contend with now, right?”  


The other woman nodded slowly, wiping at her eyes.  


“We’ll have however long once GAIA and Zero Dawn are fully installed to sort out the other shit.”  


They both laughed as Elisabet stepped forward and gestured to the door, placing one hand on Samina’s back to guide her toward it.  


“C’mon, work now, girl talk later, okay?”  


As they stepped through the doorway, Elisabet’s Focus activated, bringing up a notification that she had an incoming call. She recoiled slightly in surprise before her eyes focused on the caller and her heart nearly stopped.  


“General Herres: incoming call.”  


“Elisabet, what’s wrong?”  


“I-It’s Herres.”  


“Do you think it has something to do with what we all just talked about?”  


“What else could it be?”  


With a sigh, she reached toward the button to answer, but just as her fingers hovered over the indicator, a sharp whistling sound came from next to her ear and she jumped, her grip on the metal-and-wood compact bow faltering slightly. A distant cry followed a moment later as she blinked rapidly, trying to focus on the situation at hand. As she did, her eyes fell on a body tumbling from the top of some kind of large structure that stretched on for a good fifty to a hundred feet to her right. The red tones of its walls at first made her think it was built of stone, but she quickly realized that it was rust. Lots and lots of rust.  


Her reverie was shattered a moment later when something slammed into the ground just to her right, narrowly missing her leg. She glanced down to see an arrow jutting out of the sandy ground, still quivering slightly. Her adrenaline immediately shot through the roof as she looked back toward where she had seen the body fall a moment ago to find more silhouettes along the top of the structure, all with weapons in hand, and all seemingly aimed at her.  


“Fuck!”  


She immediately scrambled forward, nearly dropping the bow in her hands as she did. Her eyes locked onto a smaller structure, like some kind of guard house at the entrance to a facility, just up ahead and she made for it as quickly as her feet would carry her. As she drew within feet of it, her legs instinctually kicked out from under her, sending her into a slide until she slammed into the side of the building with a grunt. She quickly pressed her back against the rusted metal surface, panting as she looked around to either side of her. Whatever ruined structure she was now inside of looked almost like an arena of sorts, with her mind immediately leaping to the word “ambush,” despite only vaguely remembering it from some war film she had watched once upon a time.  


“Aloy! Watch out!”  


Her head whipped around to the sound of the voice to find the Mohawk-ed man, Erend, off to her right, a large hammer-like weapon in his hands. At first glance, he seemed to be looking right at her, but a moment later she realized he was looking past her and her eyes widened, head spinning around to face the opposite direction a moment later. Immediately, she took in a flurry of motion as a silhouette rapidly approached. The next blink, she took in the wicked spear in the silhouette’s hands.  


As her attacker let out a loud war cry of some sort, she instinctually raised her bow over her head, trying to put something between her and the sharp end of the weapon coming toward her head. The spear collided with the center of the bow, eliciting a sharp clang as the metal tip hit one of the reinforced metal sections of her own weapon, the vibrations immediately sending pain shooting up her arms. Her jaw clenched against the pain as she twisted to the right, throwing the spear away from her and sending the person holding it off balance. As he began to stagger past her, she kicked out toward his knee. Her foot collided solidly and she could have sworn she heard a crack as he tumbled to the ground, the cry escaping from his lips either from surprise or pain, but she couldn’t tell.  


Before she even had a chance to realize what she was doing, she found herself diving forward toward him, her right hand reaching toward her side. A moment later, she landed on top of the man, holding his shoulder down with her left hand as her right grasped something slim, but firm and raised it into the air. She could only watch as her hand suddenly came down toward the man pinned beneath her, driving the arrow clasped in it into his exposed neck. He let out a gasping, gurgling sound as she felt something hot and wet on her hand and she immediately tumbled backward off her would-be assailant.  


Elisabet instinctually crawled until her back hit the rusted metal wall, once again, although her feet continued to push against the loose, sandy ground for a few more moments, almost as if she was trying to escape through the wall, itself. She didn’t have long to stare at what she’d done as another shape came charging from her right and she spun into a kneeling position, hands grasping the bow and bringing it up before her, an arrow somehow already knocked and ready to fire. Erend came to a stop beside her, taking cover behind the wall, as well, before glancing over at her.  


“Easy, easy.”  


She lowered the bow, clearing her throat against the rough, sandpaper feeling that had taken hold.  


“Who are these people?”  


“I don’t know, but that armor is Oseram,” he spat. “They should have recognized mine on sight, too, but now they’re still trying to kill us.”  


“Impostors?”  


“Could be. Let’s figure that out when we’re not being shot at.”  


Elisabet just nodded, glancing down to see the bow shaking in her hands. She couldn’t look at the red stain across the skin of her right one, so she glanced back up at Erend.  


“What’s next?”  


“I was hoping that’s where you came in. Most of them are out of striking distance for me.”  


“ _Shit._ ”  


“I guess… fend off any more of those guys,” she shot back, nodding toward the rather still body of the man nearby.  


“Got it.”  


With that, she took a deep breath, closing her eyes and clenching her hands around the weapon in them so tightly she thought she might pop a knuckle out of place.  


“ _I’ve never really put stock in this sort of thing, but what god did I piss off to end up right here?_ ”  


A smirk came over her features as she opened her eyes, letting out the breath she had been holding.  


“ _Well, I bet that’s how I did it, at least._ ”  


Before she could second guess herself, or even realize what she was doing, she found herself leaping to a standing position, drawing the bowstring back and moving from behind cover. Immediately, her eyes found three silhouettes on the rooftop ahead of her, the one on the far right jumping in surprise and raising his bow toward her, as well. With near machine-like precision, her aim snapped into place and she loosed the arrow. It sailed in a perfect arc through the air before landing firmly in the rightmost combatant’s shoulder. He staggered back, letting go of his bow. A moment later, another arrow appeared from his torso, this time landing squarely in his chest. He staggered for a beat before tumbling forward and off the roof.  


Nausea began to rise up in her throat, but her eyes caught sight of motion to her left and she found herself instinctually diving forward, her head and shoulders curling in at the last second and sending her into a roll. As she popped into a kneeling position out of the somersault, the sand and debris from the ground raining from her hair, she drew another arrow and fired it almost without even looking. The bolt landed squarely in the second assailant’s face and he quickly fell to the ground, one arm hanging over the edge of the roof.  


“Watch out! He’s got fire!”  


Confusion rolled over her for a moment before she spotted the small pinprick of light against the roof where she remembered the third man standing and she quickly figured out what Erend’s warning had meant. She scrambled to her feet and began to run, but for some reason her legs seemed to take her toward the attacker, rather than away.  


“ _What?! What the fuck am I doing?!_ ”  


A moment later, she fell into another slide, her bow raising before her, arrow at the ready. All of the sudden, as she stared down the man with a flaming arrow trained on her, the instinctual strength in her arms seemed to give out and she faltered, releasing the bowstring, but sending her arrow careening away, nowhere near its original target.  


“Aloy!”  


The pinprick of light grew much brighter as it also grew larger, rapidly approaching her face. At the last moment, she flung herself to the right, rolling across the ground as she felt the heat wash over her from behind. A small point of burning temperature came from behind her shoulders and she continued to roll, hoping that the loose ground would help put whatever fire had evidently started out before it created any lasting damage. A moment later, she came to a stop and spit out the mouthful of sand that had accumulated during her evasive maneuvers, followed by a coughing fit a moment later. The small grains stuck in the back of her throat only made the fit continue before suddenly she found herself retching. Vomit splashed onto the ground underneath her as she wiped her hand across her mouth.  


“Aloy! Aloy!”  


She looked up but didn’t see any signs of Erend, leading her to assume that it must have appeared as if she had been hit by the arrow a moment ago, seeing as he wasn’t able to see her anymore. Without giving a response, she quickly scrambled to a standing position, pressing her back against the wall behind her and holding her bow at the ready, an arrow already knocked and ready to fire. She glanced up toward where she thought the combatant had been a moment ago before turning and drawing the bowstring back.  


A moment later, the small shape of the man peering over the edge came into view and she closed one eye, her vision focusing in on the tiny target. She could just make out the surprised expression on his face before the arrow flew from her bow and buried itself in his skull. The body tumbled over the edge of the roof a moment later, landing a few feet away with a sickening thud. After several long moments of silence, she let out a long, shuddering breath that turned into some kind of loud cry halfway through.  


All of the strength seemed to leave her limbs and she fell against the wall, once again, for support. Erend’s head appeared around the side of the small structure a moment later, his eyes widened before landing on her and his expression noticeably relaxing.  


“Don’t scare me like that!” he called, grinning as he scrambled out of cover and began to walk into the middle of the open ground.  


She tried to form words in some kind of response, but her tongue didn’t want to respond so she settled on waving dismissively. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, feeling her knees shake as she forced herself to walk forward, approaching her companion.  


“I think that’s all of them,” he said, glancing around.  


“Thank God.”  


He gave her a strange look for a moment before clearing his throat.  


“Well, the trail led here, so there must be something here relating to that massacre by the river. All of those men wouldn’t just be here for no reason, waiting to ambush anyone who came by, if this were really just an abandoned ruin. Please, use that second sight of yours. I have to know what really happened.”  


Elisabet nodded, slinging the bow over her torso and beginning to turn in place, taking in the area, but now with a much more relaxed atmosphere. Her eyes quickly glanced over the still bodies around her, each one bringing another feeling of nausea to her stomach. Finally, her gaze fell on a patch of ground nearby that seemed to have some weapons and armor scattered about, but no bodies nearby. With a frown, she moved over to it, activating her Focus. The device quickly scanned all of the items, telling her that they were weapons and armor.  


“ _How useful._ ”  


The sand around them was also stained with splashes of blood, but not an overwhelming amount.  


“Hey, this might be something!”  


She glanced over her shoulder to see Erend approaching, a curious expression on his face.  


“Armor and weapons, but no bodies.”  


“They don’t look used, or even all that bloody,” he commented. “There’s definitely not enough damage here for a member of the Vansguard to have gone down normally.”  


“So… maybe it was abnormally?”  


Erend looked confused as Elisabet rose to a standing position and began to scan around the area with her Focus interface. A moment later, her gaze fell on a large, cylindrical metal shape on the ground near part of the large structure nearby. She moved over to it, kneeling down and rolling it back and forth slightly.  


“A power cell?”  


She picked up the depleted energy source and glanced around. Nothing nearby seemed to indicate what it would have been used for, but it most certainly didn’t have the appearance of being left out to weather in the elements for hundreds of years. With a shudder at the thought, she stood up, once again, and glanced up at the building beside her. A large opening in the wall sat just above her, and she could just make out something standing just inside it. Her vision of it was just obscured enough that her Focus couldn’t identify the item, either, so she tried backing a few feet away.  


Once she had moved about ten feet back from the spot where she had found the power cell, she was finally able to make out what the object was: some kind of tripod. It looked rather large and sturdy, and distinctly much more militaristic than like something a photographer might use.  


“ _It’s like… some kind of gun mount?_ ”  


“They have guns here?” she muttered under her breath before quickly clearing her throat and calling out for Erend.  


He appeared beside her a moment later and she pointed toward the tripod.  


“What is it?” he asked.  


“Looks like some kind of weapon mount,” she said. “Something large must have been there. It… must stun rather than kill.”  


“Why do you say that?”  


“Like you said, the weapons and armor don’t look like a large fight occurred. If anything, it looks like they were dropped very quickly.”  


“So… why? Why paralyze them if you’re only going to move them and gut them?”  


“Well… there has to be a reason they didn’t want to kill anyone here. Something to hide?”  


“Like what?”  


Elisabet folded her arms over her chest, tapping the power cell against her side. As she glanced over the scene, once again, her eyes fell on something she had missed earlier. She moved over toward where she had found the tripod mount, crouching down once she reached what had caught her eye a moment ago.  


“What is it?”  


“More armor,” she said. “But… it’s been cut.”  


“That’s… that’s Ersa’s helmet!”  


Erend quickly stepped forward, grabbing the piece of armor off the ground and turning it over in his hands.  


“This is where they actually killed her.”  


Elisabet stared at the rock and cut straps for a few moments before a thought occurred to her. She quickly activated her Focus, searching through it until she found the journal section, once again, but this time she opened a folder she had only glanced over before, one labelled: “People.” Within, she found names listed, and when she opened the first one, she found a collection of all the information Aloy had collected, thus far, on said person. Quickly backing out to the menu, once again, she scrolled through until she found the one labelled “Ersa Vanguardswoman.”  


“ _What a name._ ”  


As she opened it, she found irritatingly little information, but the third line gave her exactly what she needed.  


“Former captain of Vanguard.”  


“She was the captain before, right?”  


“What?”  


She closed her Focus interface and looked back over at Erend.  


“Ersa, she was the former captain of the Vanguard, right?”  


“Yeah…”  


“Well, that would make her a pretty good target if someone were to, say, want to stir shit up, or perhaps weaken the forces of their enemy…”  


She watched the gears work in Erend’s head for a few moments before the lightbulb seemed to go off and his eyebrows raised.  


“You think they wanted her as prisoner?”  


“I mean, this armor looks cut up, like it was taken off someone…”  


“And then put on a decoy.”  


“Exactly.”  


“So… why?”  


“That… I don’t know.”  


Erend shook his head, beginning to pace back and forth agitatedly.  


“But… her body is lying in state in Meridian! I saw it!”  


“This rock, right here, could have been used to… mutilate… a body. Could you recognize her face?”  


She swore his face turned white for a moment before he swallowed and shook his head.  


“No, it… she was nearly unrecognizable.”  


“Is there another marker that could identify the body as hers other than her face?”  


“There’s… a-a scar… I gave her when we were kids.”  


“If that’s not on it…”  


“There’s a chance she’s still alive! I’m going. Meet me back there when you can!”  


Elisabet simply nodded, watching as Erend hurried away, the helmet still held tightly in his hands. As he receded into the afternoon haze, she heaved a heavy sigh, running her hands through her head. She closed her eyes and breathed in slowly, but the scent of iron hung heavily in the air and she nearly gagged, once again. Mindlessly, she began to wander, moving any direction that brought her away from the blood and the carnage. Once she had left the ruined structures behind and found herself in an open, empty field, she collapsed to her knees, heaving forward and finally allowing herself to retch freely.  


It felt like she emptied the contents of her stomach three times over, but after the second or third time of dry heaving and only coming up with saliva, she fell onto her backside and let out a heavy sigh, lifting her face toward the burning sun overhead. The warmth spreading across her face seemed at odds with the cold feeling in her guts, her heart still pumping ice through her veins.  


“ _Seeing wars on the news is one thing…_ ”  


As she opened her eyes, she quickly lowered her head to avoid staring directly into the sun. Almost immediately, her gaze fell on her hands, braced loosely against her knees. The red stain on her right one immediately made her feel sick, once again, but she reminded herself there was nothing left to throw up, at this point. Instead, she spit in the palm of her other hand and began to rub at the stain. The blood was still mostly wet, so it smeared and wiped off onto her other hand relatively easily, but after a minute or so with little to no avail, she sighed and held both of them up before her, staring at her palms. They were now coated in a smearing of vermilion blood, the mere sight something she had only seen in her nightmares, as of late, but never something she had ever thought would be real.  


“ _As if this world even feels real._ ”  


A breeze suddenly blew across her, as if trying to cement how “real” the current situation was to her with the sensations it brought. Small wisps of hair that had come loose from the braid she had tied it in earlier that morning dangled in her face, some of them sticking in the rivulets of sweat running over her skin only for the same wet trails to begin drying under the stream of cool air a moment later, pasting the hair in place.  


“ _I know, I know, it just… sometimes I almost wish this just seemed to be a dream._ ”  


With a heavy sigh, she wiped her hands on the ground nearby before reaching up and gingerly tapping the Focus to activate it. She lazily navigated to the “To Do” list to find that it still had two main objectives: “Find Olin at the excavation site,” and “Investigate Red Ridge Pass with Erend.”  


“Well, done with that, I guess,” she sighed, altering the latter to now indicate that she would need to meet Erend back in Meridian at some point.  


Her eyes fell on the first objective as her lips drew into a thin line.  


“Some point after I get some goddamn answers.”  


She changed the second objective to a secondary status, leaving the one regarding Olin as the only primary goal.  


“Now let’s see if you marked where to go.”  


As she activated the tracking option on the item, a feature she didn’t even know was possible before, the familiar yellow diamond appeared on the horizon, overlaid over the terrain before her. The counter below it indicating the distance to the goal read well over 1,000 and she groaned.  


“Guess we’re in for a walk.”


	27. Now You Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back. It's time to keep this train rolling. See you at the end.

Once she had risen to her feet, she wiped the dirt and debris that had accumulated on her clothing while sitting down off as best she could. Satisfied that she wasn’t going to do any better, she let out a sigh and looked up, once again.  


“Journey of a thousand steps begins with—”  


As she went to step forward, the image of the ruined structures and open, grassy ground was replaced by that of metal and bright lights. She blinked rapidly, but was unable to stop herself from finishing her thought.  


“—One…”  


Another voice nearby quickly came to a stop, although she missed exactly what the last few words had been, anyway. As she turned her head to more fully take in the space she had suddenly appeared in, her gaze fell on the expectant looks of Samina and GAIA.  


“Elisabet?”  


She cleared her throat, rubbing her hands on her pant legs to try to remove the clammy feeling.  


“We all know what’s going on, just please tell me what happened from when Herres called until now.”  


Neither of the other two looked much more relieved after her request, both Samina and GAIA’s projection shifting somewhat uncomfortably.  


“The… timeline for the idea we all just talked about… it’s coming sooner than he thought.”  


Elisabet’s eyes widened as she physically staggered back a step or two.  


“What?!”  


“The Swarm is moving faster than they expected, and the soldiers for Enduring Victory are becoming so worn out that…”  


Samina paused mid-sentence, arms held helplessly in the air to either side of her before she let out a heavy sigh, shoulders sagging as her entire posture deflated.  


“Elisabet, this is really the end, and it’s really coming sooner than we thought.”  


She began to slowly shake her head, rubbing at her temples with her fingers to try to alleviate the constricting headache that was forming, but it didn’t seem to help. The world felt like it was closing in on her from all sides, and for a moment she thought she was about to slip back into the boots of the strange, look-alike huntress in a field of recently-killed corpses, but she quickly began to realize that it was simply normal hyperventilation. A hand appeared on her back and she jumped slightly, but turned to look to her left.  


“Elisabet, come on, take a seat.”  


Samina gently guided her to the edge of her desk and into a seated position as Elisabet intentionally focused on her breathing, trying to bring it back to a steady, slower rhythm.  


“What… exactly did he say?”  


“We… lost one of the Eleuthia facilities.”  


“What?!”  


Samina gently placed her other hand on Elisabet’s shoulder, keeping her in a seated position as she pushed against her slightly.  


“They somehow detected the signal and moved in. They got as much out of it as they could, but… there’s a lot that had to be left behind.”  


“That’s… not what we need right now.”  


“No, it isn’t…”  


“H-how… how did I react… in the moment?”  


“She… uh… you…”  


She glanced over at Samina to see her shooting the projection of GAIA an uncertain look before returning her attention to Elisabet.  


“It was a lot, but… the call concluded without Herres thinking you had lost it or anything like that.”  


Elisabet regarded her with an apprehensive look for a moment or two more before clearing her throat against the thick lump that had formed.  


“Why… did you say ‘she’ before ‘you’?”  


She felt Samina’s hand stiffen on her back before the other woman sighed, hanging her head.  


“GAIA…”  


“Queuing playback.”  


The images of Elisabet, Samina, and GAIA appeared where just GAIA had been a moment ago, the setup seeming more like the other two confronting Elisabet than an actual, equal conversation.  


“I… but… the whole world… just… gone?” the redhead managed, looking incredibly distraught.  


“It will be soon,” Samina nodded slowly, staring down at the floor between the two of them. “Sooner than we thought, unfortunately.”  


“But… no… t-that… _how_?!”  


“You have already read about the cause,” GAIA interjected.  


The image of Elisabet stared blankly ahead for several long moments before speaking softly, almost as if in a trance.  


“The Faro Plague.”  


“The Plague, the Swarm… yes.”  


“But… why would… how?”  


The image of Elisabet seemed to be at a loss for words as she folded her arms over her chest and began to pace back and forth.  


“Can I ask you a question?”  


The image jumped slightly at Samina’s sudden request, but nodded.  


“You… it’s clear that… during these ‘episodes’ as you say… you’re not quite the same person as… as the Elisabet I know.”  


The image slowly stopped pacing as her lips pulled into a thinner and thinner line with each passing second.  


“Are… are you… do you have a name?”  


The image stared back at her for several long moments in silence before her eyes flicked over to the image of GAIA.  


“Dr. Ebadji only intends to help. I cannot force you to do anything, however.”  


With a heavy sigh, the image unfurled her arms, rubbing at the back of her neck with one hand.  


“I… my name is Aloy, and… I’m not from here.”  


The image of Samina’s eyes shot open as her lips parted in a wordless gesture of surprise.  


“I… I don’t know how much… you know already…”  


“Only that you behave strangely sometimes.”  


“Well… don’t we all…”  


The image of Elisabet let out a dry laugh before running her hands through her hair.  


“I… I feel like I come from a different world. Somehow… I end up seeing this one through the eyes of… Elisabet.”  


“ _This is too fucking weird to watch._ ”  


“I-I know this is… incredibly strange, and it sounds crazy to me, too,” the image said quickly, “but… neither of us really know what’s going on. I… understand a bit how she feels now, because I watched a… uh… recording, of myself, but… I didn’t make it.”  


The image of Samina continued to stare at her wordlessly for a few more moments before GAIA broke the silence between the three of them.  


“Dr. Ebadji, is everything all right?”  


“I mean… whatever this is… is kind of turning my whole world upside down… so…”  


The image of Elisabet slowly nodded, offering a sheepish smile.  


“Yeah… me, too.”  


The images froze for a moment before disappearing, only to be replaced with the projection of GAIA, who had a concerned expression on her face as she observed the two women.  


“As you can see, Elisabet, Dr, Ebadji—”  


“How have you been keeping this all to yourself?”  


Elisabet jumped at the sudden intrusion of Samina’s voice from beside her, nearly causing her to slip off the edge of the desk. Once she had regained her composure, she cleared her throat and tried to form a response.  


“W-what do you mean?”  


“I… I would be… a mental case if I had to deal with… whatever you seem to be!” Samina finally managed, gesturing to her with both hands. “How have you been able to… keep yourself so together?”  


Elisabet actually let out a laugh, tilting her head forward and shaking it slowly.  


“I… it doesn’t really feel that way to me.”  


“So… when you have your episodes… it’s like… another personality?”  


“I don’t think it’s like a dissociative identity.”  


She slowly shook her head, still staring down at her feet.  


“I… it’s like I’m in another world, just like she said in that recording.”  


A long silence filled the room before Samina finally seemed to summon the courage to speak.  


“What do you see?”  


Elisabet sighed softly before beginning her explanation. She explained the first episode in the cabin: feeling snow and grass under her hands for the first time in so long, watching the sunrise, feeling the wind, and breathing crisp, clean air outdoors. Before long, she was tumbling through her stories of interacting with other people in a society that seemed to be influenced by their own, but somehow also seeming to lack any sort of knowledge of it. Finally, she described the images she had seen of herself in this “other world”: a seemingly younger version of herself with a different name who had immediately latched onto the idea of Elisabet actually being her mother.  


When she finally came to the last, and to her biggest, revelation that she had witnessed in this other world, she paused, feeling her hands tighten their hold around the edge of the desk. She wasn’t actually standing, but she could feel her knees grow weak and she worried that she might accidentally slip off onto the floor if she didn’t just get it out there.  


“The craziest thing out of all that, I think…” she began, “is the date I found on the Focus that this Aloy somehow has.”  


Samina continued to stare at her in rapt silence, as she had during the entire speech so far. Elisabet actually wondered for a moment if she had seen her blink once this entire time.  


“It… it was the year 3019.”  


Samina didn’t immediately give a response as Elisabet had when discovering this fact, but after a few moments, she swallowed and nervously licked her lips.  


“S-so… do you… you think…?”  


“It could be the future… from now? From here?”  


Samina simply nodded slowly.  


“I… I don’t know what to think.”  


Elisabet hung her head, sighing heavily as she lifted one hand to tiredly rub at her eyes.  


“It… it’s a possibility that I haven’t discredited, yet.”  


“But… if that… if everything you’ve said is true… and… that theory is right… you know what that means?”  


Elisabet looked over at her, eyebrows raised in question.  


“Elisabet… that means we succeeded.”  


A much stronger look of confusion creased her face as Samina leapt from her seat on the desk beside her and took several steps away, placing her hands behind her head.  


“Elisabet, if you’re… somehow seeing a real future almost a thousand years from now… and it looks like what you described… this project, what we’re doing right now, GAIA—”  


She gestured to the projection in the center of the room, who raised her eyebrows slightly in response.  


“—all of that will work!”  


“Whoa, whoa, wait,” Elisabet countered, standing up as well and holding her hands out defensively in front of her. “That’s… making a lot of presumptions.”  


“Elisabet, you just said you’re reasonably certain whatever is happening to you isn’t some kind of dissociative identity—”  


“That doesn’t mean it’s not!”  


Samina froze in place at Elisabet’s sudden outburst.  


“People don’t… time travel, as far as we know, and they don’t typically see the future as… some weird younger version of themselves! I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m not a psychologist. I don’t know in-depth about reports of what people diagnosed with these conditions feel or experience, typically. For all we know, I could just be suffering from something like that, brought on by everything with Ted’s fuckup!”  


Silence fell over the room for several long, uncomfortable seconds before Elisabet sighed, folding her arms over her chest.  


“I haven’t seen anything conclusive during these episodes to explain how Aloy’s life relates to us, right now. Again, all of it could be… wild fantasy…”  


Samina sighed, letting her hands fall to her sides as her shoulders slouched somewhat.  


“I think… we both need some sleep, for the time being,” she finally said. “This… has been a lot.”  


“I know.”  


When Elisabet couldn’t take the silence any longer, she let out a heavy sigh and shook her head.  


“How long, exactly, did Herres say we have?”  


“Two weeks.”  


Elisabet’s eyes slid closed as she took a slow, shuddering breath in and exhaled it all in a quick rush.  


“We don’t have time to waste with my shit, right now. Let’s regroup after some rest and double down on this project. Nothing’s a guarantee right now, and we can’t afford to just sit back on our asses and hope.”  


“Agreed.”  


Her eyes opened as she lifted her head to look at Samina, taking in how bloodshot her eyes were and how her eyelids already seemed to be drooping already.  


“I’ll tell the others. You need some rest.”  


“Elisabet—”  


“Go. Sleep.”  


Samina looked like she wanted to say more, but closed her mouth and nodded. Elisabet sighed before continuing in a much softer tone.  


“We can talk more in the morning. Okay?”  


A small smile pulled at Samina’s lips, but she said nothing. With that, Elisabet gave a small nod and the other woman moved to the door. The electronic chime sounded to indicate the lock had opened, and she exited into the lab area outside.  


“Goodnight, Elisabet,” she called over her shoulder, offering a small wave as she stifled a yawn with the other hand.  


Elisabet replied with a wave, as well, before the doors slid closed and blocked her view. Her hand fell to her side as she let out a heavy sigh, slowly beginning to pace around her desk.  


“You could benefit from some rest, as well,” GAIA said softly, drawing Elisabet’s eyes to her projection.  


“I know, I know… _mother_.”  


A smirk crossed GAIA’s features as Elisabet found a warm feeling rising in her chest. She had used the expression before, but now that she had an actual visual feedback of GAIA’s response…  


“Everything about you seems much more human, now.”  


Her eyes widened as she realized she had spoken aloud, her lips instantly clamping shut. GAIA’s smirk turned to an actual smile as her body language grew much more bashful, her hands fidgeting with her dress.  


“I suppose that means you and your team have succeeded.”  


“I… yeah, I guess, but…”  


Elisabet sighed, rubbing her eyes with one hand.  


“That feels too impersonal.”  


“I am just an AI—”  


“You are not _just_ an AI, GAIA.”  


The projection stopped mid-sentence as Elisabet suddenly lifted her head to stare pointedly at her.  


“I—we—you’ve moved beyond that, by now.”  


A small smile pulled at the projection’s lips.  


“Thank you, Elisabet.”  


She returned the expression with one of her own before it was interrupted by a sudden and forceful yawn.  


“I did tell you—”  


“I know, I know, and I’m going.”  


She sighed, glancing around the room before facing the image of GAIA, once again.  


“Time to tuck in. I’ll catch you tomorrow.”  


“I wish you a pleasant sleep, Elisabet.”

 

The robo-horse charged at her, the lights on its head glaring a menacing red. She dove to her right, trying to avoid being trampled immediately. She reached for the spear, the bow, any sort of weapon, but found nothing. Looking down at herself, she found she was in her typical clothes from the facility: a light blue T-shirt with her Miriam logo and a pair of gray, polyester pants, but she was standing on the sandy ground she remembered from the fight before, where men in the same armor as the Mohawk-ed man—Erend—had tried to kill her.  


As she looked back up toward the machine that she had narrowly avoided moments ago, it had been replaced with one from her nightmares, seemingly jumping right off the news reports and into reality, towering over her with its spindly legs and long, deadly, scorpion-like tail. The single red light at its front continued to stare her down, holding her paralyzed in its light.  


A booming laugh sounded from nearby and she managed to wrench her gaze away from the machine to see a man in ornate, feathered armor standing nearby, a wicked grin carved into his features as he stared her down.  


“Feel the power of the Buried Shadow, child.”  


A moment later, something heavy slammed into her stomach and a feeling of white hot pain exploded from the central point of the impact. She let out a gasp and looked down at herself to see the tip of the Faro deathbot’s tail embedded in her abdomen, a crimson stain quickly spreading out from that point, turning the blue shirt a dark crimson. The machine began to lift her into the air, her feet dangling helplessly as she feebly clawed at the metal surface, but there was no use in trying to fight back, it seemed. Her gaze moved past the metal tail before her until her eyes landed on the red light, once again. It seemed to be staring her down, fully taking in its target that it now held so easily in its grasp. She saw the short, drum-like attachment on the top of the machine’s chassis begin to spin and she knew what was about to happen. Before the Scarab could fire whatever type of armament it had in its launcher, a second voice called out across the open ground, this one much less menacing and much more pleading.  


“No!”  


Her eyes fell to the ground to her right to catch the image of a flame-haired figure standing helplessly by, one hand outstretched toward her.  


“Aloy?”  
The whirring from the machine seemed to reach its peak as she looked back toward it in time to see a bright red flash.  


She sat up with a heaving, wheezing gasp, a cry strangled in her throat as she tried to breathe in, at the same time. Some saliva caught in her windpipe and she immediately began to cough, feeling her stomach twist as she nearly vomited, but managed to hold on at the last second. A moment later, her hands shot to her abdomen, trying to feel for the gaping hole that her mind half-expected to find there. To her relief, there was no bloody mess beneath her fingers, but the texture was most definitely not that of her cotton shirt she had fallen asleep in earlier.  


Her eyes lazily focused on the image of her torso for several seconds without fully comprehending what they were seeing before her eyebrows raised and her head began to whip around, taking in her surroundings. She was back in the leather tunic-like clothing she had seen previously in her episodes, rather than the bright, smooth silks she remembered receiving from the innkeeper. The remnants of a campfire stood nearby, faint wisps of smoke still rising into the air from the wood, while the last few traces of red and pink clung to the sky just above the horizon.  


“ _Just after sunset? Or just before sunrise?_ ”  


With a shake of her head, she reached for her Focus, only to find it wasn’t on her ear. In a flurry of panic, she scanned the area around her, only to find it nestled in the loose sand near the head of her bedroll. She quickly snatched the device and dusted it off before placing it alongside her ear. The interface opened around her and she quickly checked the date and time to see that it was apparently 0454 hours on September 9th.  


“ _Sunrise, got it._ ”  


With a slow, shuddering sigh, she closed the interface and stared blankly at where her knees lay just beneath the blanket.  


“ _So… that was a dream? Then… who the fuck was that guy? And… I was me… but… in this world…_ ”  


With a groan, Elisabet shook her head, placing one hand flat against her temple.  


“If you weren’t losing it before, you are now.”  


“On the contrary, it seems you are in a position where things are beginning to make more sense.”  


She immediately stiffened at the sound of another voice, her eyes widening. It wasn’t familiar in the slightest, but she could tell that it wasn’t the same one from her dream a moment ago. Her head slowly turned to scan the area around the campfire, looking for another figure she had simply missed a moment ago, but there appeared to be no signs of anyone else.  


“W-what?”  


“You are looking for answers, no?”  


“Who are you? Where are you?”  


“Let’s just say I’m an interested party, and exactly where I am is not important. I am contacting you through your Focus.”  


Elisabet’s hand immediately shot to the device, opening the interface. The window saying that she was receiving a call was open, although it simply identified the source as “Unknown Caller.”  


“What the fuck…?”  


“We are both after similar goals.”  


She cleared her throat, looking around for one of the various weapons she knew Aloy had somewhere, just in case.  


“A-and what’s that?”  


“Knowledge.”  


She froze mid-motion, her eyes fixed on what seemed to be one of the decorative ribbons from the spear protruding from behind the empty bag that typically held the bedroll.  


“Of what?”  


There was a moment of pause before the deep voice spoke in her ear, once again.  


“I believe you may find some of what you seek at the dig site nearby. We will speak again shortly.”  


“Wait!”  


Silence followed her exclamation for several long seconds before she sighed, closing her Focus interface. A moment later, she thought better and removed the device from her ear, once again.  


“ _How the hell did someone manage to contact my Focus, here? There’s no towers or satellites still functioning—I think—unless…_ ”  


Her eyes widened as she lunged for the spear, grabbing the wooden shaft and pulling it toward her. In an instant, she had snapped into a defensive position on one knee, weapon held before her at the ready as she peered into the inky darkness around her.  


“ _Focuses can communicate within fifty yards without a wider network, so whoever the fuck that is could be watching right now._ ”  


She cautiously rose to her feet, glancing around at the open expanse of ground in every direction before searching for the bow amidst her possessions. Once she had found it and the quiver of arrows, she dropped the spear on the ground and held the second weapon at the ready. She had nocked an arrow before even realizing what she was doing, but for once she was more glad than surprised.  


“Show yourself!”  


Immediately, she froze, eyes scanning the scenery around her.  


“ _That is definitely not a strategy that works outside of movies, unless you have an actual death wish._ ”  


After several long, pulse-pounding moments of silence, she slowly lowered the bow and stood up straight. Her eyes swept the darkness once more before she carefully moved back to her camp and took a seat on the bedroll.  


“First that dream, now this… what a night.”  


With a heavy sigh, she ran one hand back through her hair, finding that it had been tied back in Aloy’s seemingly signature style of a mess of various braids and beads.  


“ _Sorry mine wasn’t good enough, I guess._ ”  


A smirk pulled at her lips for a moment before she sighed and glanced back down at the Focus on the ground beside her.  


“ _Do I trust you, yet?_ ”  


After another moment or two of debate, she decided that she did and placed the device to her ear, once again. Once the interface was open, she navigated to the “To Do” list and found that it had actually been updated since she had last seen it. Apparently she was more or less at the excavation site where she was supposed to find whoever Olin was, because it had now changed to: “Deal with Olin.”  


“Well, that’s ominous.”  


She was about to close the interface when she navigated to the journal section on a whim. Her hand hovered between the written and video log menus before she chose the video one. To her surprise, there was a third entry beneath the one she had recorded. She quickly chose the file and the holographic image of Aloy appeared standing before her, once again.  


“Hey there, uh, Elisabet… well, I guess I’ll answer as many of your questions here as I can. If you haven’t, you should check your own Focus whenever you’re—back. Anyway… to start simply, the Nora are a tribe of people who live in the Eastern area of this region. I… am not really of them since, well, they kind of exiled me at birth. Just for being born, they sentenced me to not live with a normal member of their tribe. Some of them wanted me dead, I’m sure, and some still do, but at least one of the Matriarchs, their leaders, was able to give me to another outcast to raise. His name was Rost, and…”  


The image paused for a moment, her eyes looking off into the distance with the kind of glaze-over stare that she had seen countless times in her own life as of late. Whatever had happened, it wasn’t good.  


“…he died trying to save me… not long ago. I—shouldn’t say ‘trying,’ because he did… clearly. Uh, anyway… that’s why I’m ‘sort of from the Nora.’ I guess that was the easiest part of your questions to answer…”  


The image of Aloy shifted her stance, placing her hands on her hips as she let out a heavy sigh.  


“The ruins you saw are of the Old Ones… which by this point I’m reasonably certain are… well, you and everyone I’ve met at your facility, as GAIA calls it.”  


A shiver ran down Elisabet’s spine at her use of the AI’s name in such a casual way.  


“They came before us, sometime long ago. They were wiped out by what the Nora call the ‘Metal Devil,’ a machine-entity-thing that was bent on killing everyone and everything. According to their tradition, though, the ‘All Mother’ slew this being and saved humanity. I… kind of put a lot less stock in that once I found out that… what they call All Mother is actually a door. At least, that’s all they’ve been able to see.”  


The image chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment as she stared down at her feet before shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders.  


“I… they told me they found me in front of that door… as a newborn. As far as they were concerned, I ‘was not born of a woman,’ but… I don’t believe that.”  


Elisabet’s hands instinctually tightened around the bow held before her as something about what Aloy was saying seemed to pique a thought process deep in the back of her mind.  


“I… there has to be something beyond that door… and not just some all-powerful being. People, maybe… I-I don’t know, though, and… that’s part of the reason I’m all the way out here: finding answers. When I was shown the door, it… looked at me, like it was examining me with some kind of red light, and then… it said that it couldn’t recognize me. It said that… the ‘alpha registry file’ was corrupt.”  


Elisabet’s eyes widened as she paused the recording, scrambling to her feet.  


“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, what?!”  


She rewound the recording a few seconds and listened to her last sentence, once again.  


“It said that… the ‘alpha registry file’ was corrupt.”  


The recording of Aloy continued to talk, but Elisabet was no longer listening. Her eyes stared through the semi-transparent holograph of her younger doppelganger as her mouth hung open slightly, her lips moving as if she were speaking, but no words came out.  


“ _That… that can’t be… those would be…_ ”  


“My team?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's truth will we find out first? Guess you'll have to wait and see.


	28. Take a Step Outside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Monday, and hope you don't absolutely hate cliffhangers, because they're going to be a lot more common coming up. I'm particularly enjoying reading people's theories on what will happen/where the story will go, so feel free to keep 'em coming!
> 
> Bonus points to anyone who gets the reference to another video game series hidden within the chapter.
> 
> I've got some schemes on the horizon (no pun intended) and they're going to be _big_.

The two words that finally made it past her lips barely made any sound at all, but there was no one else to hear, except her, anyway.  


“ _A date of 3019, a door scanning her and saying she was unrecognized because of the Alpha Registry being corrupt, and… that video…_ ”  


Elisabet quickly turned off the recording Aloy had made and navigated back to all of the various other recordings that had been downloaded to the device. After a minute of frantic searching, she found the one she remembered watching long ago: the one that put an image of Aloy beside an image of herself and marked either her or the both of them as targets to be terminated. As she stared at the image of the two of them side-by-side, she noticed something else that she had missed in her state of shock the first time she viewed the video. An analysis window appeared between them, showing an image of a double helix before displaying a percentage: 99.47%.  


“That’s… really high.”  


She stared at the image blankly for a few more seconds before shaking her head and closing the file.  


“That… would explain why it would try to use the Alpha Registry to recognize her… but… she and I are… related… somehow?”  


Elisabet’s chest began to heave as she fell back onto the bedroll, her legs suddenly too weak to support her. As soon as she hit the ground, she pulled them in and hugged her knees to her chest.  


“But how? I-I can’t… can’t be her… _mother_ … not a thousand years from now—well, from me!”  


Her head continued to shake before she leaned forward and pressed her forehead against her knees, closing her eyes.  


“I need more to go on than this…”  


Suddenly, her head shot up as her hands tightened their grip on her forearms.  


“Olin. If he’s somehow got answers… I want them. _Now._ ”  


Her small camp was packed and she was fully dressed in the protective leather and metal clothing within record time, finishing the transformation by shoving the spear through the loops on her back. As the blue and purple lines from her focus appeared over the world around her, her eyes focused on the yellow diamond before her, the number below it now a measly 58. Her teeth ground together as her hands clenched into fists at her sides. With a quick tap of the Focus to close the interface, she set off toward the marker.  


The sun had still not fully risen, although the sky was growing steadily brighter as she walked. At first, she found herself wishing she had some kind of flashlight or torch to light the way, but when she heard voices in the distance, she immediately dropped into a crouch and pressed herself up against the nearest rock formation. She continued forward more slowly, keeping an eye out for any signs of motion that could tell her who the voices belonged to, but it was still nearly impossible to see in the dark.  


“ _Let’s make this easier for me, a bit._ ”  


She quickly activated the same low-light mode she had begun to use in the strange dungeon-basement back in the city, the outlines of tall grass and large rocks popping into existence before her. As she continued to move, she spotted other shapes that were distinctly less inanimate. The outlines of several human beings appeared, although for the moment they appeared to be all standing together, facing inward in a vaguely circular formation. She took care to leave a considerable distance between the people and herself, particularly once her Focus scanned the shapes and gave her an info box listing them as “hostile humans.”  


“ _Cultists?_ ” echoed through her mind as she read the remainder of the description that her interface gave her. “ _Are these the guys Aloy mentioned tried to kill her?_ ”  


Despite her now slower pace, she soon found herself within twenty of whatever unit of distance the Focus ascribed to its marker and came to a stop in a patch of tall grass. She glanced around the area, looking for a way that didn’t take her directly toward the group of people, who were now well within earshot of her. As well as she had been able to take on that group with Erend, she didn’t want to necessarily try her luck and accidentally get herself killed right then.  


“ _What would happen if I died here? Would I just flip back to my life, or would Aloy be stuck as me forever?_ ”  


She shook her head against the encroaching thoughts, taking slow, deep breaths to try to calm her racing pulse.  


“ _Not the time for that._ ”  


Once she had resumed her focus on the task at hand, she realized that the cultists had separated, some of them heading farther away from her marker, and a few heading toward it. She watched as their outlines began to slowly descend some kind of trail before popping out of existence once they had moved too far out of range.  


“ _They must be headed into the excavation site._ ”  


Elisabet frowned and glanced around the area, once again, before her eyes fell on the edge of the nearby rock formation. It wasn’t particularly tall, and a certain section before her seemed to have been worn into a walkway, marked by a rough-hewn lip that bore the signs of repeated abrasions sometime recently. She glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before silently slipping over to the ledge and running her hand over the worn lip.  


“ _Looks almost like people have been climbing up here, or at least moving stuff off of it._ ”  


She rubbed her hands together and took a deep breath before tensing her legs and leaping into the air, hands outstretched toward the lip of the rocky platform. She managed to easily grab a hold and braced her legs against the rock surface before her. Her hands’ grip on the surface felt almost like a vice as she couldn’t but stop and marvel at the feeling for a moment before she blinked rapidly and forced herself to keep moving. With minimal struggle, she managed to pull herself on top of the walkway and rose to a crouched position.  


No immediate shouting or sounds of alarm arose around her, so she pressed forward, trying to keep as low of a profile as she could. The walkway led her past a wooden construct that appeared to be a lift of some sort, complete with a block and tackle pulley system. Voice from up ahead prompted her to instinctually dive into a somersault and slide up against the wall to her right, her chest heaving as her pulse pounded in her ears.  


“ _That was… certainly not my first reaction, but that works._ ”  


She pressed on slowly for about ten more feet before coming to a small perch that overlooked the descending trail that the cultists from earlier must have taken. A quick glance in both directions revealed no one currently on it, so she hopped down the five foot drop and descended deeper into the dig site. It didn’t take long for the path to begin opening up, revealing a massive pit that appeared to have been roughly hewn from the Earth, primitive wooden scaffolding and walkways one of the only clues that this place was not naturally formed.  


A loud voice echoed from up ahead and she quickly took cover behind a pile of rocks ahead. At first she was afraid that she had been spotted, but the shouting did not seem to carry the kind of tone she would expect someone sounding an intruder alert would carry, so she carefully positioned herself to peer around the pile she was using for cover. She maneuvered herself so she could look around with one eye, but it was still enough to make out everything below her.  


A team of the strangely-dressed cultists were working in the large pit below, fervently digging and moving about a strange lump in the ground like ants over a dropped piece of food. She carefully activated her focus and scanned over the various forms until one particular name appeared in the information box from her scan.  


“ _Got you._ ”  


Olin’s outline was marked in gold, compared to the blue shapes of the others, making it much easier for her to keep track, even from this distance. With a sigh, she shifted her position against her hiding spot.  


“So much for catching him alone. Something tells me these other guys won’t appreciate me just asking to talk with him.”  


As she braced herself to start figuring out how she was either going to fight her way through the scenario or try to sneak in, a deep, mechanical whirring echoed throughout the site and her heart nearly stopped for a beat or two. Her eyes instantly flicked back to the strange shapes in the ground she had seen the cultists working around a moment ago only to see them beginning to move, the dirt and rocks slowly raining off the black, metal forms as they rose from the ground.  


“ _No… no, no, no, no, no—_ ”  


The spindly forms of two Scarabs arose from the dirt, their red lights blinking back to life as their deadly tail-like appendages began to move and stretch, slightly jerky and rough from nearly a thousand years of disuse, most likely. Her breathing began to quicken as her hands closed around the rocks before her, her nails grinding across their rough surfaces.  


“ _They’re…_ intentionally _reviving them?_ ”  


“These things will destroy us all!”  


Her eyes focused on the person her Focus designated as Olin to find him confronting a man in a strange mask and hood standing on top of one of the wooden scaffolding constructs. The tone of his voice didn’t particularly sound like someone who was onboard with the plan to bring the machines back to life.  


“They will only destroy our enemies and bring us back the lands that were taken—”  


Suddenly, a piercing sound came through Elisabet’s Focus and she fell backwards from the rocks, clutching at her ear as she desperately tried to remove the device.  


“ _Not again…_ ”  


When the sound finally stopped, she hadn’t managed to remove the device, but she kept her hand over it for a few moments longer. Finally, when she had recovered from the piercing assault on her senses, she summon the courage to look around her. As she expected, she was no longer in the rocky dig site, but she did not immediately recognize the new location, either. Her vision seemed to be obstructed by sand and dust whipping by her, but none of it seemed to be actually touching her.  


Before she began to wonder if she had somehow slipped unconscious, again, she raised her hand and the truth hit her. The metal glove of an HEV suit told her exactly where she was probably standing. She turned in place, taking in the sight of the old launch base in the grips of some kind of intense dust storm. It was almost like the apocalypse had already happened, and the thought of the entire world devolving into environments like this sent shivers down her spine.  


“GAIA?”  


There was a momentary pause before the AI responded through her focus.  


“Elisabet?”  


“Why did she come here?”  


Silence greeted her response for several long moments as Elisabet could almost imagine the image of GAIA sighing, shoulders slouching and a defeated look on her face.  


“She wanted to see for herself.”  


Elisabet felt a tight feeling take hold in her chest as she continued to turn in place, looking around the open ground that currently functioned as a landing pad to transport personnel and equipment to various locations. No VTOL would be trying to land in this weather, but something told her that this would become an increasingly common sight the longer the project wore on.  


“ _We need time to get everything and everyone out of here. Is that going to be something we actually have?_ ”  


With a heavy sigh, she began to turn toward where she knew the entrance to the facility to be.  


“What did she say?”  


“Not many particular words. I don’t believe she knew what to say.”  


“I wouldn’t, either. Still barely do.”  


As she approached the door, she used the credentials synched from her Focus to the suit’s interface to unlock the airlock. The doors slowly ground open, allowing her to step into the intermediary room, where air scrubbers would attempt to remove all of the toxic contaminants and provide a breathable atmosphere so she could actually take off the suit.  


“How long was I out there?”  


“Three minutes and forty seconds.”  


“Not long enough to be a significant signal.”  


“I was closely monitoring the situation, and made her aware that there would only be limited time.”  


“Good, good…”  


As the environmental systems did their work, Elisabet ran through the images of the men from her episode, raising the Faro deathbots from beneath the Earth. Whoever this Olin was that Aloy was searching for, at least seemed to be against the idea. If anything, he seemed used. An electronic chime suddenly sounded in her ear, followed shortly after by a heavily synthesized voice.  


“Environment in airlock is now at appropriate levels. Entrance permitted.”  


The large door ahead of her began to slide open as she released the airtight lock on her helmet and pulled it over her head. As she stepped forward, she stopped short, confronted by the sight of a person she didn’t expect to see standing before her. Charles stood with his hands in his pockets, seemingly waiting for her. They both jumped at the sight of each other, though, before quickly attempting to regain their composures.  


“Elisabet,” he said, nodding.  


“What are you doing up here, Charles?”  


“I got a notification of the airlock being opened and the others voted that I should come see why.”  


“Did they?”  


He stared back at her for several long seconds before sighing.  


“I volunteered.”  


“As I thought.”  


Elisabet moved over to the locker-like storage units that held the HEV suits when not being used, one clearly left open from when she had exited a few minutes ago. She hung the helmet on the designated hook before pressing the release buttons to open the rest of the suit. The thought that she hoped Aloy had at least kept her sleeping clothes on underneath crossed her mind for a moment, but as the chest section of the device began to open, it revealed a dark blue T-shirt and she mentally breathed a sigh of relief.  


“What you sent about the news from Herres…”  


Elisabet glanced over her shoulder toward Charles to see him staring blankly at the ground between the two of them, his eyes unfocused.  


“It’s all true?”  


She sighed, stepping into the position in the locker and feeling the latches secure the back of the suit in place.  


“It would seem so.”  


Charles just nodded slowly as the final sections of the front of the suit opened, allowing her to step out and onto the cold floor of the facility. The temperature immediately seeped through her socks, even though they were the thick, boot liner-esque style required for use of the HEV suits.  


“How does it look outside?”  


She glanced over at Charles to find that he still was not looking at her.  


“Not any better.”  


“I guess I don’t know what I expected.”  


He laughed dryly as Elisabet couldn’t help but offer a sad smile, as well.  


“We need to start planning for the evacuation of everyone, soon.”  


Elisabet sighed, moving over to the nearest locker that showed it had something within and opening it. She found her sneakers on the top shelf before her, which she took before checking to make sure there was nothing else of hers and closing the door.  


“Yeah. Guess we can’t keep this on the down-low for all that long, after all.”  


“I don’t think that would have been fair, anyway.”  


She regarded Charles with a strange look for a few moments before nodding slowly.  


“Yeah, I guess that’s true.”  


They remained in silence as she pulled off the liners for the suit and slipped on her shoes, tying them quickly before looking back up at Charles.  


“Is there anything you wanted to talk about?”  


She could tell that he wanted to answer affirmatively, but something held him back and he sighed, shaking his head.  


“Not right now.”  


Elisabet simply nodded, rising to her feet and placing the boot liners in a bin marked “Used” before turning to leave.  


“We’ll have a team meeting shortly, and we can start to figure all that shit out.”  


“Elisabet, I—”  


Charles paused as she turned around, placing her hands on her hips.  


“Yes?”  


His mouth hung open for several moments before he sighed, hanging his head.  


“I’ll see you there.”  


Her lips pulled into a thin line before she nodded and turned to exit the room. As she exited the air lock area and moved toward the elevator, a chime sounded in her ear and she opened her Focus interface.  


“New Message from Samina.”  


She opened it and scanned over the text as she came to a stop in front of the elevator doors and instinctually reached out toward the call button.  


“Turns out that something we lost in that Eleuthia facility was a proto-build of APOLLO.”  


“Fuck…”  


The doors to the elevator opened with a pneumatic hiss, prompting Elisabet to slowly step inside and hit the option on the screen for the main level of the facility. The car began to descend rapidly, her ears popping slightly at the change in pressure before it came to a stop and she stepped into the main atrium. Originally, this had been the first thing any of the prospective candidates had seen, complete with some potted plants, receptionists, and drink offerings. Now that the selection process was long over, it was empty of people. The plants remained, although they looked much worse for wear. Many of the seats and such that had tried to give the impression of hospitality had been pushed to the sides in favor of making room for large crates full of supplies that were periodically dropped off and picked up from the VTOL pad above.  


“ _Nothing gold can stay._ ”  


With a heavy sigh, she moved through the entrance, bypassing the original Holo theaters and using her Focus access to enter an “employees only” hallway that essentially acted as a shortcut to the work areas. A few minutes of wandering hallways later, she ended up in the main area between all of the various subfunctions, just below the window to her office. Compared to the main atrium, this area was absolutely bustling with life. Several people nearby jumped at the sight of her entering and quickly began to look busy, but it was impossible to miss the distressed expressions on their faces.  


“ _It’s only fair that the information gets out. Even if no one told them, the look on my face probably says it all._ ”  


She tried to offer a thin smile to them, but it felt incredibly fake and she quickly turned away, striding toward the door to the APOLLO area. As she entered, she found the entire section in a heightened state that seemed to be bordering on panic. She frowned slightly, pushing through the frenetic crowds toward Samina’s office.  


“ _I know we lost a build, but that shouldn’t be the only copy, right?_ ”  


Before Elisabet even reached her office, she spotted the familiar blue headscarf off to her left and adjusted course, stopping short to avoid being hit by a man pushing a cart full of equipment boxes at a speed probably too high for the populated space. As she resumed her path toward Samina, she seemed to catch sight of her and nodded in acknowledgement. When she approached, she caught the end of whatever she was saying to the short man with long, dark hair she was talking to.  


“—double check that it’s all there and saved in at least two places. Once you’ve done that, triple check it.”  


He simply nodded, glancing toward Elisabet, before hurrying off in the other direction.  


“Where’s the fire?” the redhead asked, smirking slightly.  


Samina sighed, rubbing her eyes with one hand.  


“Ever since you told us to reveal the timeline to everyone, everything has more or less become chaos. Around here, the loss of the APOLLO copy in that Eleuthia facility has been… devastating.”  


“It wasn’t the only one, right?”  


“No, but… well, if we keep losing copies, then that’s not improving the odds, is it?”  


Elisabet simply nodded, folding her arms over her chest.  


“How long ago was that message sent, now?”  


Samina regarded her with an odd look for a moment before realization seemed to dawn on her and she cleared her throat.  


“You—uh—sent it just a little over an hour ago.”  


“Ah, right…”  


Neither of them acknowledged the implications head on, but it didn’t seem entirely necessary.  


“So you’re running full tests on the system?”  


“All of us are. Every section. A skeleton crew may be able to implement a fully designed system in a reasonable timeframe, but trying to finish up the designs of them…”  


“Understandable…”  


“That means—”  


“We’ve got to put GAIA through her paces with all of them, I know.”  


They both nodded slowly as Elisabet wiped her eyes with one hand, finding small trails of something dried on her cheeks. She quickly wiped at the stale tear trails and cleared her throat.  


“Let’s have a meeting, all the Alphas, in a few hours. We need to go over how everyone and everything is getting out of here.”  


Samina just nodded in response before someone called her name and she spun to her left. Elisabet patted her on the shoulder before nodding toward the exit and turning to leave. The other woman flashed a quick smile at her before turning to the person approaching her. As Elisabet made her way back through the facility toward her office, she tried to keep as neutral of an expression as possible. She had missed the feeling of the dried tears at first, but now she understood why Aloy hadn’t said anything outside. GAIA was just trying to be nice in her explanation. As soon as she entered her office, the projection of GAIA materialized in the center of the room.  


“Elisabet, I have already begun to run diagnostics in preparation for—”  


“GAIA we have an Alpha Registry File saved here, right?”  


The AI looked confused as she shifted her stance slightly.  


“Indeed, yes. Query: why do you ask?”  


With a sigh, Elisabet rubbed at her temples with her fingers.  


“No reason.”  


The projection regarded her with an unreadable expression for a moment or two longer before the redhead moved around her desk and fell into her chair.  


“Query: does this relate to your episode this morning?”  


“Yeah… it kind of does.”  


“Query: should there be a cause for concern over it?”  


Elisabet simply shook her head, staring blankly at her desk for a few moments before suddenly sitting up straight.  


“GAIA, can you bring up the location of all the Eleuthia facilities in the western United States region?”  


“One moment.”  


A map of the United States appeared on Elisabet’s console before a peppering of red dots appeared across it, stretching from just east of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast.  


“All of these are active?”  


“As of current reports, yes.”  


Elisabet drummed her fingers on her desk for a moment before leaning back in her seat, once again.  


“And all of them require genetic access from members of the Alpha team?”  


“Yes. All of them have restricted entry, which includes all members of your team.”  


“And one more thing—”  


Suddenly, the image of a spear being driven into a man’s chest appeared before her and her eyes widened, an unintentional yelp escaping her. The next blink, it was gone, replaced with the map on her console, once again.  


“Yes, Elisabet?’  


Before she could say anything, she was confronted with the image of a man swinging at her with a spear of his own, before she found herself back in her chair, a feeling of dizziness quickly beginning to take hold.  


“GAIA, I…”  


“Elisabet?”  


A moment later, a sickening crunch sounded and she blinked, only to find herself confronted with another man gored on the tip of the spear held in her hands. Before she could stop herself, she spun around, flinging the man’s body a good few feet away. She blinked rapidly, but the image of the rock walls and sandy ground didn’t disappear, once again. Her heart pounding in her ears began to infiltrate her thoughts before she quickly spun in place, checking to make sure that she was not in any more immediate danger. Seeing no one approaching, she slowed to take in the scene a little more closely.  


She was clearly standing in the bottom of the excavation pit she had seen earlier, but she didn’t immediately see or hear any signs of the two Scarab units from before. As she glanced back toward the two bodies nearest to her, she began to piece together why that was the case. Swallowing back the nauseous feeling rising in her throat, she allowed her stance to relax, holding the spear loosely at her side.  


“Hear me out!”  


She jumped, spinning around to face the sound of the voice that had suddenly come from nearby. A man in a tan, vest-like shirt and loose-fitting brown pants was lying on his back in the dirt a few feet away, one hand outstretched toward her. Confusion creased her face for a moment before her eyes fell on the Focus attached to his ear.  


“ _Olin._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: in the Word document I use to write this in, this chapter ends on page 167. That's a lot of pages for "a quick, fun little idea." How do y'all think the conversation between Elisabet and Olin will go? Tune in next week to find out my answer.


	29. Judge & Jury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week on Duality...
> 
> Elisabet tries to get some answers.
> 
> Fair warning: it's about to get very dramatic.

Elisabet quickly moved toward him and he cowered slightly, lowering his hand at her approach.  


“I promise, I’ll tell you everything.”  


“Let’s start, then,” she said quietly, standing over him, her hand gripping the spear at her side with more strength than a moment ago. “How did you get a Focus?”  


He looked confused for a moment, but quickly scrambled to speak as the intensity in her gaze didn’t let up.  


“I-I wasn’t… totally honest with you at the Proving. I was given it… b-by… these people!”  


He gestured to the bodies nearby, but Elisabet held her gaze steady on him.  


“So who are they? Who did you betray your friends to, and send to kill me?”  


“I didn’t send them, I just work for them. They… took my family. I had no choice.”  


“Who are they?”  


“The Eclipse. Some kind of holy warriors—a cult—of the Shadow Carja.”  


“ _Wish I knew what any of that meant._ ”  


“They’re not like any Carja I’ve known. They don’t worship the sun, but some kind of… buried devil.”  


“Like the ones here?”  


“Those are what they call Corruptors; they’re minions of the devil.”  


“More beliefs and superstitions out to kill people—”  


“It’s no superstition, though,” he cut in, “their devil is real. It has a name, a voice—the most terrible voice—and they do its bidding.”  


Something made Elisabet pause as she shifted her grip on her spear, moving to hold it before her with both hands.  


“Did they dig it up, too?”  


“Someone must have. It’s ancient, and has these—abominable death machines at its disposal.”  


A single question kept ringing throughout Elisabet’s head as she stared down at the man on the ground before her. Finally, she cleared her throat, shaking a strand of hair out of her face.  


“What is its name?”  


“Hades. That’s what they call it.”  


Elisabet’s eyes widened as she physically staggered back a step or two.  


“W-what?!”  


“I’m not lying! I swear!”  


Elisabet suddenly charged forward, grabbing the man by his shirt and bringing her face down toward his.  


“Where did they find it?” she demanded.  


“I-I don’t know! That was before I got involved.”  


With a growl, Elisabet released him and the man adjusted his shirt slightly before she rounded on him, once again.  


“Is this ‘Hades’ the one who gave them the order to kill me?”  


“I believe so. When I saw you at the Proving… that was the first and only time I’ve heard it speak, steel to my soul. Such a voice… a cold, awful jangle that scrapes your bones and—”  


“What did it say?” she interrupted, stepping closer, once again.  


He recoiled at her motion but quickly tried to regain his composure enough to speak.  


“System threat detected. Just three words, but in the voice of a devil.”  


Elisabet’s chest heaved as she took another step or two back, her eyes glazed over and staring at the ground beside Olin.  


“ _No, there’s no way…_ ”  


“I saw the order to kill me,” she pressed on, shaking her head to break herself out of her trance. “It had an image of another woman: looks like me, but older, with shorter hair. Do you know who she is, or why?”  


“I don’t know why, but I’ve seen her image before.”  


Elisabet’s heart began to pound as she crouched down before Olin, using her spear to help hold herself from falling over.  


“Where?”  


“In the ruins of Maker’s End. My Focus found her image there, once. Maybe you can find her, too.”  


“What do you mean found her image?”  


“There was a door, and beside it, a kind of ancient device that… contained the woman’s image. My Focus recorded the location.”  


“Give it to me.”  


“I-I don’t know how—”  


Elisabet suddenly held out her hand and the man recoiled for a second before slowly realizing the implication as she gave him an irritated look. He took the device from his ear and dropped it in her waiting palm. She quickly swapped it for her own and opened the interface. Immediately, it seemed different than hers, projecting lines in golds and yellows rather than the familiar blues and purples. Shrugging the differences aside, she navigated to a section of saved information and opened the folder titled “Locations.” There were numerous saved files, but she scrolled through until she found one labelled “Maker’s End” and quickly selected it. Within seconds, she had transferred the data to the Focus in her hand, closing the interface and tossing the device back to the other man, who bobbled it and dropped it in the sand beside him.  


“You do look like her,” he finally said. “Is she your mother?”  


“I ask, you talk,” she snapped, her eyes shooting daggers as she slipped her own Focus back into place.  


He winced at her response, but fell silent.  


“Now, they saw me once through your Focus, so who’s to say they won’t use it again to find me?”  


“The network is down for some reason, they don’t even know you’re here!”  


“Still, that makes you a liability.”  


“I won’t beg for my life,” he stammered, “but if there’s any mercy in you, free my family, please.”  


“Mercy is a lot to ask of someone you almost got killed.”  


“They don’t deserve to suffer for my actions.”  


Elisabet ground her teeth as she stood up, pacing back and forth while swinging the spear idly at her side.  


“I can give you their location. There’s always guards, but… you seem like you can handle yourself.”  


She stopped her pacing to regard him with a thin-lipped expression before she fully turned to face him.  


“Give it to me and I may consider it.”  


“Thank you—”  


“I would hold off on the thanks, right now. I haven’t decided what to do with you.”  


“Still, the thanks is not for me, but for them.”  


Elisabet sighed as he handed her his Focus and she set about transferring the location to hers. Once she received the notification that she had received the location, she hung her head, shaking it slowly.  


“ _This is never a position I wanted to be in._ ”  


“I don’t know you. If I let you live… you could just go right back to those cultists.”  


For once, the man remained silent, evidently resigned to accept whatever fate she chose for him at this point.  


“And if you lied, there goes any chance of finding out the truth about that—woman…”  


She swallowed the lump in her throat that had formed at referring to who she knew was herself in such a way. Finally, she sighed and faced Olin, once again.  


“Get up.”  


His eyes widened as he slowly began to sit up.  


“You’re… sparing me? After all I’ve done?”  


“For now,” she said coldly. “If I discover you have lied… I will find you—and I will not be so merciful then.”  


Olin got to his feet, dusting himself off before looking over at her, once again.  


“The rest of my life is in your debt.”  


“Don’t—don’t be so quick with that,” she sighed. “I need answers for myself, but… after… I may be able to help with your family. If you are still worthy of such help.”  


“I… understand,” he said gravely.  


“Stay out of trouble, drop off the map for a bit, and I will find you at the location you sent me in two weeks’ time, at sunset.”  


“I didn’t earn this mercy, but I will die to make myself worthy of it. I will be waiting for you then.”  


Elisabet simply nodded.  


“You know the way, correct?”  


“I do, yes.”  


Elisabet stared down at his Focus in her palm for a moment before dropping it on the ground and driving the heel of her boot into it. The device emitted one last feeble chirp as she felt it break in half. When she took her foot away, it revealed the now dark Focus in pieces in the sand.  


“Call it insurance.”  


He gave her a tight-lipped expression before turning and heading toward the exit of the site, presumably. Once he had moved far enough away without grabbing a weapon and suddenly attacking her, she opened her own Focus interface and quickly set about creating the new set of directions guiding Aloy and herself to this “Maker’s End.” She flagged it as a priority above all else before setting the destination waypoint and scanning for the yellow diamond that told her where to go. When she found it, her shoulders sagged at the number beneath it.  


“That’s… going to be a long trip.”  


Just as she went to take a step forward, however, she found herself not in the rocky dig site surrounded by dead bodies and machines, but the middle of her office. Her pulse instantly pounded in her ears as she found her chest heaving, and the jarring change only seemed to exacerbate the problem.  


“I don’t know how to help you, but I feel that she will be perfectly capable of handling the situation.”  


“What situation, GAIA?”  


The projection paused for a moment, considering her with a curious expression, before responding.  


“Aloy was… upset about the timing of your episode.”  


“How so?”  


“She told me something about how she was missing her chance to confront the man who had tried to have her killed.”  


“ _Oh._ ”  


“I, uh, yeah, I think I... just experienced that.”  


“Query: what was the outcome?”  


“Well, I confronted him—interrogated him, more like it—and then… I let him go.”  


“Query: did you deem him to be innocent?”  


“Not entirely,” she shook her head, “but… not worthy of capital punishment, either. He was played… controlled… it wouldn’t have been—”  


Suddenly, an image of the man flashed before her eyes, but it wasn’t one she remembered from a moment ago. His eyes were wide, a feeling of terror clearly exuding from them. No words or sounds came to her, but she immediately knew something was wrong. The next moment, she was back in her office, staring at the image of GAIA.  


“Elisabet?”  


The image of Olin appeared before her once again, but this time, she noticed something she had missed the first time: the spear she had held in Aloy’s world moments ago brandished toward him.  


“Because of you, dozens of families were destroyed. My own included. I can’t let you live.”  


Elisabet’s eyes widened as she found herself suddenly before the projection of GAIA, her knees feeling weak as she found herself desperately clawing for—something—anything to steady herself.  


“W-what? My family… everything we just said…”  


The sound of Olin’s voice reached her ears while her vision was still filled with that of the lights and metal and glass of her office at the Zero Dawn Facility. Despite not being able to see the exact moment he had spoken, she knew what was about to happen next.  


“I guess I was wrong.”  


The next instant, the image of her own hands driving the spear into Olin’s chest appeared before her, his eyes bulging as his mouth fell open, letting out a choking sound.  


“No!”  


The scream tore itself from her throat as her knees finally seemed to give out on her and the next instant she found herself on the floor of her office, almost directly at the projection of GAIA’s feet. Her throat felt raw from the sudden vocalization, the faintest echoes of it still reverberating in the corners of the room. Her eyes were staring ahead at the metal floor, glazed and unaware of exactly what stood before her, the image in her mind still frozen on that of the spear tip puncturing the man’s chest.  


“Elisabet!”  


GAIA’s voice sounded like it was coming from far away and underwater as her hands slowly raised before her. There was no actual blood on them, not in this world, but she could almost feel it, the sensation quickly coming to mind from after the fight in the ruins during one of her last episodes. A moment later, the image of Olin’s form, limp on the ground before her, flashed before her eyes, almost as if to taunt her.  


“No…”  


“Elisabet, say something. Please.”  


GAIA’s voice suddenly appeared loud and clear before her, breaking through the haze that had fallen over her. She blinked rapidly, taking in the image of her clean hands raised before her for a moment or two longer before she spoke, her voice barely louder than a whisper.  


“She killed him.”  


“Query: to whom are you referring?”  


“Aloy… she… killed the man… we were just talking about.”  


“Query: the same one you said you let go?”  


“Yes.”  


Hot tears began to burn at the corners of her eyes, but she made no move to wipe them away or stop them from falling.  


“She… she didn’t know about the conversation we had just had… she couldn’t have… but… she acted anyway.”  


Silence fell over the room for several long moments before Elisabet’s hands slowly clenched into fists, her knuckles turning white.  


“She murdered him!”  


She suddenly slammed her fists down on the ground, eliciting a loud bang that echoed about the room while she ignored the pain shooting up her arms from the action.  


“Elisabet… please tell the story from the beginning. It may help you process what is happening.”  


She stared blankly at the floor for several long moments before slowly beginning to get to her feet. The world seemed to tilt and roll around her as she slowly made her way over to the chair at her desk and sank into it. As soon as her weight was off her feet, her posture collapsed, prompting her to lean forward and prop her elbows on her knees. GAIA had remained silent this entire time, much to Elisabet’s gratitude.  


“Where to begin…?”  


Several rambling minutes of storytelling later, she found her throat closing involuntarily as she came to the end, describing the flashes she had seen where Aloy had seemingly killed the man she had just spared moments ago. The room fell into silence as she breathed deeply through her nose and out through her mouth, trying to remember some of the relaxation techniques she had picked up over the years.  


“ _You never had to deal with killing or murder before, though._ ”  


“This does seem to be taking a great toll on you.”  


Elisabet laughed dryly as she glanced up toward the image of GAIA for the first time since she had begun her tale.  


“You don’t say?”  


“Query: is there a reason this has upset you, even though it is not necessarily by your hand?”  


“Because—because…”  


Elisabet sighed, hanging her head, once again as she ran her hands through her hair.  


“GAIA, can I tell you a story? Another one, that is.”  


“I would enjoy that, Elisabet.”  


She sighed, yet again, as she stared down at her feet.  


“When I was a kid… I was messing around with a child’s electronic kit, hacking it to an auto battery and solar PV, and the grass caught fire, as well as a tall pine nearby. My mother was home, thank god, so she called the fire department. After, she took me out on the lawn and showed me… all the dead baby birds from the nests in the tree.  


“I-I… remember not knowing how to feel then, either. I… screamed and shouted that I didn’t care, but… my mother made me listen. She told me… that I had to care. That being smart would count for nothing if it didn’t make the world better… I had to use them for something. In her words: ‘to serve life, not death.’”  


Elisabet fell silent for several moments before running her hands through her hair one last time and lifting her head to look at the image of GAIA.  


“How can I go through with all of this if… on the other hand I just go and do the exact thing I want to stop?”  


GAIA remained silent for several long moments, the projection’s eyes betraying nothing about the “thought” processes behind them. It was the one thing that still kept the façade from seeming entirely perfect, at times.  


“Query: how does this feeling apply to situations such as when you suggested allowing yourself to attack Charles?”  


Elisabet’s eyes widened for a moment before her hands clenched into fists and she shot from her chair.  


“What are you trying to say, GAIA?” she snapped.  


“Elisabet, I understand that logic can sometimes be flawed or obfuscated in certain moments due to extreme emotional responses, but—”  


“You’re calling me a hypocrite.”  


The AI stopped mid-sentence, staring back at her with a passive expression.  


“You think that—deep down—I actually am like that?”  


“That is not—”  


“That death is no concern of mine, and I treat it so lightly?” her voice was steadily rising in volume with each word, her tone moving from a near-whisper toward a shout. “That it’s easy for me to know that I was the one who helped design Operation Enduring Victory to throw thousands of people away? To take them from their lives and strip what time and value they had left in them so I can sit here in these facilities, safely squared away?!”  


Elisabet’s voice was at a full shouting volume, heat spreading across her cheeks and down her neck as she heard the sound of the joints in her fingers popping softly from how tightly they were clenched.  


“I’m not some perfect, omnipotent, benevolent god, GAIA!”  


Her voice cracked as it finally reached a shrill pitch, the echoes off the walls of the room around her seeming much louder than before.  


“I’m just a human fucking being, with all of the bullshit and flaws that come with it! The world dealt its hand, and I’ve just tried to keep up without folding as best I can. I try my goddamn best, but sometimes that just… isn’t enough.”  


The tightness and fire that had been building in her chest during her entire tirade suddenly seemed to dissipate in one fell swoop, leaving a hollow feeling that almost made her want to collapse on the spot. She managed to stagger back a few steps before falling into her chair, once again, leaning back as she placed her hands over her face, blocking out her view of the world around her.  


“That’s where you’re supposed to come in… why I—we—made you.”  


Silence followed her last statement for several long moments before she finally sighed, pulling her hands away.  


“Please say something, I know you want to.”  


She half expected to see the sandy rock formations of Aloy’s world as her eyes opened, but instead she was still firmly rooted in her own reality, the image of GAIA still regarding her with an impossible to read expression. For a moment, the realization of how surreal this whole situation was hit her and she almost wanted to laugh out loud, but something held her back. She was arguing with a computer program about something like existentialism and the human condition, as if it were supposed to understand any of those things.  


“ _But she can—I hope._ ”  


Finally, the image of GAIA broke the stillness and silence by stepping toward Elisabet and sinking into a kneeling position before her, bringing her closer to her eye level, although perhaps slightly lower.  


“I do not expect you to be perfect. I do not believe I am, either. You created the function of HADES for the very purpose of fixing a mistake, should I or the system as a whole make a terminal mistake or series of mistakes. The system, as a whole, is structured much more like a collaborative team for that very reason, as well: it is much easier to run such a huge organization, that of the planet’s biosphere, with a team, rather than alone.  


“Everyone I have observed at this facility, you, your team, the other staff, have all exhibited flaws at some point or another, and yet, I do not fault them for any of it. If anything, I have learned from what I have seen, and it is invaluable to being able to accomplish the things you created me to do.  


“I understand that there are some things I do not have a full human perspective on, and may never fully hope to gain one, simply through the simple fact that I have never been, and will never be, a truly living, human entity, as much as I may seem as such. From a standpoint completely removed from emotional weight, the deaths of all the soldiers and volunteers as a part of Operation Enduring Victory have been necessary to aid the goal you have defined for Zero Dawn. Also, in line with that, the death of one man who you described as having aided horrible crimes in the past also does not seem to be of much consequence. When I factor in the emotional processing I have learned from all of you… it becomes much less simple.”  


Elisabet simply stared back at GAIA with an incredulous expression following her entire speech, her mind seemingly incapable of forming words, let alone full sentences.  


“No one asked you to save the world, or expects you to do so. Similarly, no one is expecting you to have a perfectly spotless and infallible record of all your actions.”  


After another moment or two of silence, Elisabet’s vision began to grow blurry and she leaned forward, furiously rubbing at her eyes with her hands. The hot tears that had begun to force their way out of her would not be abated by her actions, however, and continued to run, even dragging several sobs out of her chest, as well.  


“I apologize, I did not intend to hurt—”  


“I’m not angry, or—y-you didn’t hurt my feelings,” she managed, although her face remained hidden. “I… that was…”  


After a moment or two more of uncontrollable tears and sobbing, she took a deep breath, wiping her face with her hands one last time, and lifted her head. The image of GAIA was still kneeling before her, their faces almost level in Elisabet’s bent-over position.  


“I think I need a hug.”  


A smile creased the projection’s features as a short laugh escaped Elisabet, as well.  


“Unfortunately, I cannot provide one at the present time.”  


“Present time?”  


“Perhaps in the future if there is an unused servitor bot…”  


Elisabet’s eyes widened slightly as she sat up a little straighter.  


“Are you saying you want a physical body to control?”  


“I am saying that it would not be out of the question, eventually, and… it could be rather enlightening.”  


A genuine smile creased Elisabet’s face as she wiped at the smeared wet trails below her eyes, once again.  


“You just keep hitting me with all of this and I won’t be able to emotionally process everything.”  


“I apologize.”  


The playful smile on the projection’s face gave away the true meaning behind her statement as Elisabet sat up straight in her chair, heaving a heavy sigh.  


“Okay, I… I feel like I could use a nap or… something after all that, but… well, we don’t really have time for that now, do we?”  


“I would be able to run some of the diagnostics required of me without your supervision for a few hours,” the AI offered.  


“No, it’s—it’s fine. I probably just need some coffee and then I’ll be good, again.”  


The projection’s face didn’t look convinced, but she nodded, rising to a standing position, once again.  


“I will begin the setup, regardless, while you go for coffee.”  


“Thanks, GAIA,” Elisabet nodded, rising to her feet with a groan. “Be right back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah... just a few simple conversations in a row.
> 
> Also, the idea of GAIA suggesting using a servitor bot as a physical body someday came from the story [Willfull/Unstoppable](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15226014/chapters/35372952#workskin) by podgle (which is a totally awesome series of short scenes that I highly recommend). Didn't mean to steal it, but the idea was so amusing that it just got stuck in the back of my mind and I couldn't pass it up, I guess.


	30. System Test

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy first of one of my favorite months: the Spooky one. But seriously, I love fall and halloween and fun fact: around this time last year was when I finally finished playing through Horizon for the first time. What does any of that have to do with this chapter? Absolutely nothing. Enjoy regardless.

By the time Elisabet had reached the break room and made a batch of “campfire coffee” in the sink using Travis’s rig, she had mostly managed to stop her hands from shaking and had wiped away most of the evidence of her tears. All of the things GAIA had said to her seemed to still be bouncing around her head, no matter how much she tried to focus on other things. She tried to answer messages from various departments within Zero Dawn, but halfway through rewriting a message to Brochard-Klein for the tenth time regarding the Eleuthia facility catastrophe, she closed her Focus interface and let out a heavy sigh.  


She wrapped her hands around the warm mug on the counter beside her, trying to let the feeling radiating from the ceramic vessel spread through her hands and up her arms. Just as she was bringing the mug to her lips, however, a notification sounded from her Focus and she paused. With a sigh, she carefully shifted her grip to hold it with one hand before tapping the device attached to her ear. A new message from a sender only listed as “Unknown” appeared before her, causing her to frown.  


“ _What kind of spam mail would I still be getting?_ ”  


When she tapped on it, the message nearly made her release the mug in her hand.  


“Her name is Elisabet Sobeck.”  


“What the hell?”  


“A curious old expression to pick up.”  


The voice appearing suddenly in her ear finally prompted her to release her grip on the mug in her hand, as well as jump a few inches off the ground. When she had finally returned to a normal standing position, she quickly realized that the ground beneath her was no longer solid and firm, as it had been a moment ago. Instead, her feet sank into it slightly, nearly sending her toppling off balance.  


She closed the Focus interface to find herself in the midst of an expanse of desert, rather than the metal confines of the Zero Dawn facility. The wind was beginning to pick up, blowing fine particles of sand across the surface and into her as she quickly raised one hand to shield her eyes. She shouldn’t have been surprised by the sight of the clothing on her arm, but it still seemed rather jarring, considering she had just been making coffee in one of her typical old T-shirts a moment ago.  


“ _Wait, that voice…_ ”  


“Who are you?”  


She waited for a moment to see if he would speak again, but only the sound of the wind and nearby brush blowing in it greeted her. After several more long seconds, she sighed and began to turn in place, taking in whatever environment she had suddenly been dumped into, this time. A frown pulled at her lips when she didn’t see anything particularly notable nearby, so she opened the Focus interface, once again. The yellow diamond appeared on the horizon to her right, although she noted how the numbers beneath it had gone down considerably.  


“ _How fast did she go in the maybe hour since the…_ incident _?_ ”  


Still, she began to press on across the sandy ground in the direction the waypoint had indicated. After she had gone only a few feet, a sound behind her caused her to pause. It sounded like heavy footsteps, combined with some kind of metallic clanking. Her hands instinctually reached for the bow strapped across her torso before spinning around, nocking an arrow as she did.  


The sight of a machine only twenty feet away caused her to jump and her hands immediately leapt into motion, lining up the tip of the arrow and loosing it from the bow. The tip struck true in the blue eye-like light at the front. The machine staggered for a moment before collapsing onto the ground, the sounds of its internal mechanisms coming to a stop following shortly after. Her heart was pounding in her ears as she slowly lowered the weapon, throwing it over herself, once again, before slowly moving closer.  


The machine seemed to resemble something like a longhorn bull, complete with the horn-like appendages attached to its “head.” Her hand slowly reached out toward it, but she pulled back at the last second, unsure whether she wanted to tempt fate so much, right that second. As she continued to scan over it with her eyes, she marveled at how seamlessly the metal plating on the outside fit together, most likely allowing for a wide range of very natural movements, while glimpses of strong, black, synthetic muscle tissue were visible beneath and between them.  


“This is… light years beyond even anything FAS was doing,” she breathed, crouching in front of the fallen machine.  


Just then, her eyes caught something on the front “shoulder” of the robo-bull. She shifted closer, wary that it didn’t suddenly get up or one of the sparks still flashing across it didn’t make the jump to her, by accident. When she was within only a few feet, she was finally able to make out the full details of what she had seen. A symbol adorned the metal outer plating, just like a company’s stamp would appear on something it had manufactured, but it didn’t seem to be anything she recognized. It looked almost like a triangle with the line on its base broken in half and bent up in the middle.  


“ _No company I’ve ever seen… and definitely nothing FAS that I know about._ ”  


As her gaze drifted down from the first symbol, however, she froze. Another sat below the odd triangle logo, but this one was immediately much more recognizable: a hexagon with the image of a flame in the center. It was a symbol she had seen nearly every day for the past few months.  


“Hephaestus?”  


She fell onto her backside, bracing her hands against her knees before her as she simply stared at the familiar logo of one of GAIA’s subfunctions emblazoned on the body of a strange machine nearly a thousand years in the future.  


“T-that means… this is… this is Earth.”  


She stared blankly at the images before her for several more, long seconds as her brain struggled to comprehend all of the ramifications of what she had just discovered.  


“ _Those things Samina said… about a glimpse into the future meaning we were successful… does this mean she’s right?_ ”  


After several more long moments of contemplation, she shook her head and slowly begin to rise to her feet.  


“I need more answers. Let’s hope they’re at this ‘Maker’s End.’”  


She opened her Focus interface to begin scanning for the waypoint that marked where she needed to go when another thought suddenly occurred to her.  


“ _That unknown sender I saw before appearing here… that must have been something Aloy received…_ ”  


She quickly navigated to the messages area of the interface, but didn’t find the one that had popped into her head a moment ago. With a frown, she closed it and was about to switch off the device when an idea occurred to her and she returned to the “Journal” section. She opened the written logs and found the most recent one; the date and time seemed to indicate that it had been written very recently.  


“ _After Olin…_ ”  


She opened the file and found that the entry wasn’t very long, after all. The first two lines simply recapped the events at the excavation site, ending with an abrupt: “I killed him. I killed the man who had ruined so much in my life.” Elisabet swallowed the lump in her throat before proceeding to the next sentence, her eyes widening immediately.  


“How could you let him go, Elisabet? You of all people should understand. He was single-handedly responsible for changing the course of my life, leading to the death of the one person I could trust in the world, and you were just going to let him walk away. If you had the chance to confront the man who killed your mother in that accident, would you have been so merciful, then?”  


Elisabet’s jaw clenched as her hands curled into tight fists. Before she was fully aware of what she was doing, she leapt to her feet, closing the journal and navigating to the video section to start a new recording.  


“You don’t get to talk about what happened with my mother, got it?” she snapped immediately, staring dead into the center of the recording interface. “You’ve been digging around in areas all about me, and for what? To use as ammunition against me? I’ve read your journals. I know all about Rost and how he raised you. I knew exactly what I was doing when I let Olin go. He was used by a larger force to further their cause; they took his family from him, and used that as leverage… but you couldn’t have known that, because you acted on impulse the second you saw him. You acted like a child. There is so much more to this world than you, or me, or any single person. You need to realize that.”  


She sighed, finally breaking her eye contact with the interface and looking down at the still machine several feet in front of her, placing her hands on her hips as she shifted her stance.  


“Olin said he saw… _my_ image at Maker’s End—wherever that is—and gave up the location. I think a lot of the answers to both of our questions will be there. You want to know who I am, and why I look like you… and so do I. Hopefully… we’ll have some kind of answer, soon.”  


With one last heavy sigh, she looked into the center of the interface and began to reach toward the “stop recording” button.  


“Elisabet out.”  


As she tapped it, something seemed to shift around her, but she couldn’t tell what it was, at first. Her Focus interface was still open before her, but she quickly realized that it was not the same screen she had just been viewing, but some kind of readout with slowly filling blue lines that all led back to a central logo. After staring at the images blankly for a second or two, she realized that they were all of the various subfunctions, her eyes quickly navigating to that of HEPHAESTUS before she blinked and focused on the one that represented GAIA in the center.  


“If this test isn’t successful, then I fear there could be some very serious repercussions for the entire Zero Dawn Project.”  


The sound of the AI’s voice so nearby caused her to jump slightly, but she glanced past the main screen before her to take in the image of the main floor of the facility below her. She seemed to be standing in front of the large window that took up one entire side of her office, the people rushing about beneath her nearly a blur as her eyes faded in and out of focus between them and the screen before her.  


“I know, GAIA, which is why I’m crossing my fingers so tightly.”  


Almost without skipping a beat, the AI replied.  


“Dr. Sobeck, you have returned.”  


“Indeed, I have,” she sighed. “How has the test been going?”  


“As you can see, several of the subfunctions have been able to accept communications, and now the systems are testing the ability to upload data back to my main system.”  


Elisabet just nodded, slowly turning from the window to find that the projection of GAIA was not standing in the center of the room as she had expected. Seemingly sensing her surprise, the AI quickly explained.  


“The amount of processing power required to fully utilize this test did not seem supportive of producing the projection, therefore I elected to turn it off for the time being.”  


“Got it.”  


“This was yet another short episode.”  


“Huh? Oh, me, right. Yeah, it was… pretty short.”  


Elisabet’s mind was suddenly drawn back to that of the images she had seen on the robo-bull moments ago and she grappled with whether to reveal this to GAIA now, or wait until later. She was rather busy, at the moment.  


“Affirmative tests are being reported from APOLLO, HEPHAESTUS, DEMETER, ARTEMIS, and even HADES.”  


A shiver ran down Elisabet’s spine as she closed the Focus interface and moved over to her desk, falling into her chair with a heavy sigh.  


“You do not seem excited by this development.”  


“I am, it’s just… I’ll fill you in when this test is done. It’s more important, right now.”  


A pause followed her statement before GAIA replied.  


“Noted.”  


After several long moments of silence, a thought suddenly occurred to Elisabet and she spun around to face her console. She quickly opened a window to a search engine and stared at the blinking cursor for a moment or two before typing in her query: “genetic similarities between parents and children.” The first page or two of results didn’t immediately bring up what she was looking for, instead delving more into how the genetics manifested physically, so she tried refining it to search: “average percentage of genetic similarity between parents and children in humans.” Immediately, the first few results that popped up seemed to give her more of the answers she was looking for, although the sinking feeling in her stomach didn’t necessarily make her feel as if she were actually “victorious.”  


“Dr. Sobeck, is there a reason you are looking into this line of questioning?”  


She jumped at the sudden intrusion of GAIA’s voice, but quickly composed herself.  


“Just a hunch I wanted to investigate.”  


“Query: are you beginning to believe Aloy’s inquiry might be true?”  


With a sigh, Elisabet leaned back in her chair, staring at the results on her display.  


“After this, admittedly very short, research… I think I’m beginning to think that it isn’t, no.”  


There was a pause before GAIA responded.  


“Query: what do you believe is the answer, then?”  


She sighed, rubbing her eyes with both hands.  


“I don’t think she’s actually my daughter, somehow, but… she’s something else.”  


“Query: what has made you suddenly interesting in exploring this idea?”  


“Something I saw,” she sighed, letting her hands fall into her lap. “You should focus on the tests, GAIA. I can worry about my own crises for a little bit.”  


The pause before the AI’s response told her that she didn’t want to actually wait, but numerous conversations between the two of them were probably enough to tell her Elisabet wouldn’t budge.  


“Noted. We can discuss further at the conclusion of the tests.”  


For the next thirty minutes or so, Elisabet set about responding to messages from team members that had been sent during her episode, as well as a few from earlier in the morning that she had somehow missed, in general. The entire time, however, the thought of the robo-bull with HEPHAESTUS’s symbol on it plagued the back of her mind. The other symbol was entirely unfamiliar, but she had a feeling that perhaps that was simply because it wasn’t used for anything—yet. After nearly forty-five minutes in silence, an electronic chime sounded, causing her to jump and nearly fall out of her chair. Flashbacks to one of her first episodes where she had hit her head on the desk came back to her and she subconsciously rubbed at her temple, where the hints of the healing injury still remained.  


“All tests with the subfunctions are complete.”  


“And?”  


“All have been successful. Communication has been established, both downloading and uploading, and systems seem to be behaving optimally.”  


Elisabet suddenly leapt from her chair, letting out a loud cheer as she pumped her fist in the air. As she began to pace back and forth, her hands running over her face, the projection of GAIA materialized in the center of the room, a smile on her lips.  


“Oh my god, GAIA, you’re sure?”  


“I ran the processes to check the connections approximately five thousand times in the past fifteen minutes, exploring all possible weak points to make sure they were sound.”  


“Goddamn…”  


“It appears that all of Zero Dawn should be operational, at least from the governing AI bodies.”  


“We should get all of the Alphas up to speed, at least, and then everyone.”  


“I can create a conference message between all of your team, if you would like.”  


“Go for it.”  


A few moments later, the indication that all six members were active in the chat room came through and Elisabet cleared her throat.  


“All right, everyone, I would have called a meeting in person, but I wanted to get this out faster and not wait any longer. GAIA?”  


“Hello Alpha team. As of two minutes ago, tests connecting my central system to all of the subfunctions were completed and found to be functioning optimally and correctly. The results of this test seem to prove that, for all intents and purposes, the Zero Dawn system should be functioning and operational.”  


Immediately, sighs of relief, cheers of excitement, and other such positive responses flooded the voice chat. Elisabet couldn’t help but smile as she glanced over at the image of GAIA to catch the pleased expression on her face.  


“Look at that, we did it after all. Lizzy, you crazy gal, you were right.”  


Elisabet shook her head at the sound of Travis’s voice, folding her arms over her chest.  


“I’ll choose to take that as a compliment and ignore the other implications, Travis.”  


“Should we tell our teams?”  


“By all means, yes. I think we all need to hear this right now.”  


More congratulations and cheers came from the group before Elisabet sighed, letting her arms fall to her sides.  


“We can all have an in-person meeting tonight to continue any questions or concerns about this—”  


“And have some celebratory toasts?”  


Elisabet paused, shaking her head and sighing.  


“Yes, Travis, I suppose that would actually be appropriate tonight. Anyway, I just wanted you all to know as soon as possible.”  


With that, everyone signed off the chat, leaving Elisabet and GAIA alone in her office, once again. She closed her Focus interface and turned to the projection to see the satisfied expression on her face.  


“If I could, I’d give you a huge hug right now.”  


The projection smiled, shuffling her stance slightly as she did.  


“ _Is she actually exhibiting embarrassment?_ ”  


“Someday, perhaps, then.”  


Elisabet simply stared back at the image of the woman in the flowing dress for a few moments, a small smile on her lips, before nodding.  


“Someday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone is wondering, I do have a plan for how all this ends. It's not going to be where and how you expect.


	31. Here's to Our Success

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure: this was mainly meant to be an amusing chapter, since Lis and Co seriously need a break. However, the second half kicks up the action by quite a few notches. 
> 
> I know a lot of times, it seems like I try to pull a bait and switch or keep dangling the carrot in front of y'all with the cliffhangers and I see tons of comments along the lines of "we're so close to ____________" but this time I'll be clear: next time chapter Elisabet is going to get a very real discovery, and from here on out, finally some goddamn answers.
> 
> Now with that thought hanging over your head, enjoy this chapter!

The news didn’t take long to spread amongst the staff, the sounds of celebration quickly filling the cold, metallic hallways of the facility, the sights of it everywhere, as well, as Elisabet wound her way through the labyrinthine corridors. Shortly after revealing the news to the team, she had contacted General Herres, filling him in, as well. He had sounded almost as relieved as the rest of her team, but his voice carried a touch of sadness that theirs had not.  


“Dr. Sobeck, I have something I would like you to archive in APOLLO, for me.”  


“Uh… sure, General. What is it?”  


“A testimonial.”  


“For what?”  


“From me… about what has happened.”  


“None of this was your fault…”  


“I singlehandedly made decisions that led to the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilian volunteers who felt they would somehow make a difference, as well as the soldiers of the United States. I fed them to a meat grinder, while knowing that there was no hope for any of them.”  


“Oh…”  


“Please, include it. I want the—the future generations to know that… we were humans, and we made mistakes… but that I wish they won’t make the same ones.”  


The testimonial he had sent her was short and to the point, but created a tight lump in her throat listening to it, so she sent it off to Samina and her team as quickly as possible, opting to file it away on her own archive, as well, just in case she felt like she might need it later.  


When it came time for dinner only a few hours later, several people had broken open the shipping container that had been designated “Do Not Open Until Project Completion” and dispensed the libations within. While members of the team such as Samina, Patrick Brochard-Klein, and Margo popped open bottles of champagne and sipped it from coffee mugs and other normal drinking glasses, Travis had appeared with a bottle he had somehow managed to stash on his own.  


“Holy shit,” Margo said, taking it and staring at the writing on the front. “Kentucky Bourbon, bottled 2018?”  


“What can I say? I’m a man of taste.”  


Samina snorted loudly, prompting him to narrow his eyes at her.  


“Not everyone appreciates the same taste, it seems.”  


She simply rolled her eyes as Margo handed the bottle back to him.  


“So, any takers with me?”  


Elisabet shrugged, glancing at the bottle in his hands.  


“Sure, why not?”  


Everyone around her stared in disbelief as she raised her eyebrows, glancing around at all of them.  


“What?”  


Travis simply laughed as he grabbed two glasses from the table nearby and cut the wax seal off the bottle. He poured two-fingers’ worth in each glass before handing one to Elisabet.  


“You know, I’d take some, as well, if you’re offering.”  


She glanced over to find Charles had suddenly appeared beside her, his hands shoved in his pockets. Travis raised his eyebrows, gesturing to the bourbon in his hands before pouring another glass and handing it to the other man. The three of them, plus the three champagne drinkers, all raised their glasses between them, the vessels clinking on contact.  


“To Zero Dawn: a crazy long shot that somehow worked out.”  


Elisabet rolled her eyes at Travis as Samina sighed and offered an alternative toast.  


“To the team that strove to give humanity another chance.”  


Everyone fell silent after that for a moment before Elisabet cleared her throat.  


“Yeah, something like the two of those.”  


Laughter broke out as everyone took a sip from their drinks, except Travis and Elisabet, who knocked back their liquor almost like taking shots. The others stared incredulously at the redhead as she let out a sigh, glancing down at her empty glass for a moment before looking back up at Travis.  


“You know, Travis? You just might be onto something here.”  


He tilted his head back as he let out a hearty laugh.  


“Where has this side been hiding, all along, Lizzy?”  


“You can take the girl off the ranch, but you can’t take the ranch out of the girl.”  


His eyes widened slightly as he turned to face her more fully.  


“You’re a ranch girl, Lizzy?”  


“Bet your ass, Travis.”  


He just laughed, shaking his head as she held her glass out toward him.  


“Care to hit me with a refill?”  


As he took the offered empty glass from her, Charles finished off his drink, as well, letting out a sigh.  


“I have to say, Travis, I am also quite impressed.”  


“You like it, Charlie?”  


“One of the many things I’ve learned in life is to never say no to a nice bourbon, scotch, or whisky, and so far I have not been let down.”  


Travis simply laughed as he refilled Elisabet’s glass with a much more generous pour of alcohol, before gesturing to Charles, who handed his over, as well. Once the three of them were holding rather full glasses of liquor, they turned back to the rest of their group.  


“Despite however many years we’ve known each other, Elisabet, there are still things that surprise me,” Samina commented, grinning as she glanced at the glass in her hand.  


“You want to try some?”  


Samina’s nose wrinkled as she shook her head quickly.  


“I’ve never been one for drinks like that. Burns too much.”  


“You never had a real college experience, then, did ya?” Travis chimed in.  


“I did just fine, thank you,” she shot back. “I just happen to prefer sweeter things.”  


Elisabet smirked as she took another sip of her bourbon, already feeling a bit of the dizzying buzz going to her head.  


“ _It’s been a long time since I’ve had anything like this…_ ”  


The celebrations continued in full force for another hour or two before the team members slowly began to dwindle, many of them staggering off to their quarters while attempting to support their tipsy comrades. Out of the Alphas, the original six who had begun the night together had found their way into the holo-theater that contained seats and the message from Elisabet regarding the purpose of Zero Dawn. Travis had managed to reconfigure the projector to play other files, effectively turning the room into a private movie theater. Before he would allow any films to be played, though, he forced the team to sit through the original presentation, much to Elisabet’s embarrassment.  


Her face turned nearly as red as her hair as she sank lower in her seat, sipping from her rather full glass of bourbon as she stared up at the hulking image of herself, cast in pink and purple hues. She wasn’t sure if anyone else could pick up what she did, but she could clearly hear the uncertain tones in her voice giving away that, despite seemingly confident in her description of the project, betrayed her doubts that it wouldn’t be completed and fully realized—at all, let alone on time.  


“ _And yet, here we are…_ ”  


As the presentation wrapped, Travis hopped from his seat and onto the stage, staggering slightly but catching himself before he could actually fall.  


“Jus’ wanted to remind all a y’all where we’s started from,” he slurred, grinning.  


“Yeah, yeah, and we’re all so proud, yada yada yada…” Elisabet droned, waving dismissively. “You promised me some classic films and goddammit I’m waiting.”  


Cries of agreement came from the rest of the group as Travis laughed and made his way over to the console on the left side of the stage. After a minute or two of typing and muttering under his breath, a large, projected rectangle appeared before them, which quickly began to move, revealing the opening credits of some film.  


“What exactly constitutes a classic for this occasion?” Samina called out from beside Elisabet, raising her eyebrows at Travis.  


“Nothing from my _truly_ personal collection,” he said with a wink over his shoulder to her.  


“Makes me feel a little better…”  


By the end of the first film, a drama that Elisabet remembered her mother loving when she was a child, half of the group had begun to fall asleep, so the rest woke them up and told them to head back to their quarters. Margo, Samina, and Brochard-Klein all bid the group goodnight through their yawns and left the theater, leaving Elisabet, Travis, and Charles alone. Silence fell over the three of them for a few moments before Travis cleared his throat.  


“Well, another?”  


“Sure,” Elisabet shrugged, her drink sloshing side to side in her hand and coming dangerously close to spilling over the sides.  


He nodded and quickly hopped onto the stage, moving over to the console. Almost immediately, Charles tapped Elisabet on the shoulder, prompting her to look over at him.  


“Elisabet—Dr. Sobeck,” he began, his breath heavy with the scent of alcohol, “I… want to ap—apog—say I’m sorry.”  


She raised her eyebrows at him while taking another sip from her drink, but otherwise remained silent.  


“Everything came together in the end, and… whatever is going on with you didn’t… didn’t stop it.”  


“So you’re sayin’ the ends justify the means?”  


“No, no, that’s—that’s sounds too harsh,” he shook his head, placing his half-full glass on the ground before turning to face her in his seat. “My concern was that… you wouldn’t be able to… accurately lead a project with a… _compromised_ mental state.”  


Elisabet’s fingers instinctually closed tighter around the glass in her hand, but she forced herself to bite her tongue for the moment.  


“What I did was… shitty. I cornered you, and put you in a pressured situation that… only raised your stress levels and… probably made you forget things you wou’n’t otherwise.”  


After a brief pause, he let out a heavy sigh, hanging his head slightly.  


“I’m just saying I’m sorry. I feel bad.”  


After a brief moment or two, a cough sounded from off to their right and Elisabet glanced over at Travis to see him awkwardly waiting by the console.  


“Next, uh, next film’s ready to go, when you two are.”  


Elisabet just nodded.  


“I’m ready.”

 

By the time the three remaining members of the Alphas had staggered their way out of the holo theater and back to their quarters, the clock on Elisabet’s Focus told her it was well after three in the morning. She sighed, falling onto her bed fully clothed as she stared up at the rotating ceiling overhead.  


“ _I can’t say I missed this feeling._ ”  


A soft electronic chime sounded in the room, followed shortly thereafter by a familiar, calming voice.  


“Elisabet, is everything okay?”  


She sighed softly under her breath, rubbing her eyes with her hands before letting her arms fall to either side of her, once again.  


“Never better, GAIA.”  


“That would seem difficult to believe.”  


A smile tugged at her lips as she shifted her position on the bed so that she was lying in the proper direction.  


“You never knew me back in the day, then.”  


“Query: was this sort of behavior common for you? It is an area where I do not have adequate records to draw a conclusion.”  


“Oh yeah, total party animal,” she said, laughing. “Down’a forty before leavin’, chug shots at th’bar…”  


The AI remained silent as Elisabet laughed, kicking her shoes off haphazardly and listening to them clattering against the metal floor.  


“Something tells me this is simply an effect of the alcohol.”  


“No… what makes you thin’ that?”  


She could almost imagine the exasperated look on the projections face as she shifted her position until her head lay on her pillow, the soft surface feeling as if it immediately gave way for a moment before suddenly being replaced as she focused her vision on one particular point in the ceiling above her.  


“ _Been a_ long _time…_ ”  


“Perhaps rest would serve you best.”  


“How many times I tell ya…”  


“I am merely acting in your best interest.”  


Elisabet sighed, running her hands over her face before rolling onto her side.  


“I know, I know…”  


A few moments of silence followed before she let out a yawn and closed her eyes, trying her best to ignore the feeling of motion as she tried to let herself relax.  


“I’ll… see ya in the mornin’.”  


“Goodnight, Elisabet.”  


What felt like mere moments after closing her eyes, the feeling of motion stopped, yet her vision still remained dark. She began to wonder if she had really been able to fall asleep so quickly when another idea suddenly occurred to her and she forced her eyelids open. At first, everything was blurry, but it quickly began to clear away, revealing a dimly lit space that certainly didn’t make her think of her quarters. A heavy, earthy scent filled her nostrils as she blinked several more times in rapid succession, attempting to clear away the haze that covered her vision.  


Once she had, she realized that she appeared to be under what looked like a thick canopy of branches, yet it only appeared to be a foot or two above her head, while she lay on the ground. She pushed herself into a sitting position and marveled at the sudden shift in clarity in her mind from moments ago.  


“ _Fastest sobering up of my life._ ”  


The thought of Aloy suddenly being tossed into her shoes brought a smirk to her face as she pushed the blanket off herself and rose to a kneeling position. She moved toward the canopy and carefully pushed one of the branches aside. Beyond it lay a forest, although this one seemed less vibrant than the ones she had experienced before. Many of the trees around her were bare, while evergreens like the one she appeared to be sheltering under still bore their needles, most even still green. A chill passed over her and she shivered, letting go of the canopy so that it fell back in place.  


“Feels like winter,” she muttered, rubbing her exposed upper arms as she turned back to her small camp.  


Most of her things were still packed up, as if Aloy hadn’t been expecting to stay long. The only things seemingly left out in the open were the bedroll and blanket, her bow and spear propped against her pack just past where her head had laid while sleeping. The Focus also lay on top of her pack, a faint blue glow coming from the logo in the center. With a quiet chattering of teeth, she grabbed it and placed the device beside her ear.  


Immediately, the interface sprung to life around her. A quick glance over her shoulder showed the yellow diamond that indicated the location of her objective and, to her surprise, the number beneath it was significantly lower than she remembered.  


“100? That means… I’m practically right on top of it…”  


She quickly scanned through the journals section to see if Aloy had left a response, but her only journal entry simply detailed her journey to this place, Maker’s End. A note about the mysterious voice contacting her via her Focus drew Elisabet’s attention for a moment, but she seemed to be just as lost for an explanation as her, so she closed the interface with a frown.  


“Well, we’re so close, might as well just get on with it.”  


Within a few minutes, she had packed the bedroll and blanket away and strapped on her gear. Pushing aside the canopy of branches, she stepped into the chilly air outside, noticing how her breath immediately fogged before her.  


“ _Definitely not the desert I just came from._ ”  


After checking her Focus for the direction of her objective, she set off in a vaguely northern direction. As she moved through the trees, she began to notice more and more white coloring on the tops of them, as well as a light dusting on the rocks around her. She swiped her fingers across the nearest one, holding them up before and taking in the rapidly melting flakes of snow.  


“From summer to winter in only a day? What kind of biosphere is going on here?”  


Wiping the small rivulets of cold water off her fingers, she resumed her trek onward, rubbing her arms absentmindedly in an attempt to retain some of her warmth. Not long after setting out from her original camp, she came upon a field of what seemed to be large boulders jutting from the ground, all of them covered in a fair dusting of snow. She eyed several large, bull-like machines nearby and steered well clear of them, not wanting to deal with whatever hazard they may present. Images of her nightmare involving the Scarab stabbing her through the stomach flashed before her eyes as a shiver ran down her spine.  


“ _Not a good time for that thought._ ”  


She forced herself to push it aside as she scrambled over the top of a rather large boulder, quickly hopping off the opposite side into a patch of tall grass. As she looked up from her landing, she froze in place. Seemingly out of a shroud of fog and blowing snow, the hulking shape of a metallic structure materialized before her. It was rather long, and stood about three stories high, but it seemed as if only two of the four walls were truly left standing. Every metal surface had rusted long ago, evidently taking the glass with it as empty holes now stood where doors and windows had once been.  


“What the hell is this place?”  


She slowly began to venture closer, glancing around for signs of the machines charging her, but they seemed rather content with grazing in the patches of grass behind her and paid little mind to the single woman wandering through the snow drifts. Something about the imposing structure before her piqued a memory in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t place what it was, exactly. The feeling that she had walked in this exact location before settled over her like déjà vu, sending another involuntary shiver down her spine.  


As she reached the end of the building, a mechanical whirring from up ahead drew her attention and her eyes widened. One of the small, raptor-like machines was moving toward her, its glowing blue eye sweeping back and forth across the open ground before it. Almost instinctually, she rushed forward, sliding into a crouched position amidst a patch of tall, red-tipped grass. The machine paused for a moment, its long neck lifting into the air as its eye turned from blue to yellow. After a few seconds of scanning the area where she had just been standing, the light returned to blue and its head lowered, quickly returning to its normal patrol route.  


Just as she was about to turn her attention away from the machine, something about it caught her eyes and she paused. Something appeared to be moving about it, more than the other ones she had seen before. After a second or two longer, she realized that it appeared to be some kind of pulsing, undulating tendrils that gave off a reddish glow.  


“What in the hell…?”  


Before she had a chance to ponder it further, the machine had passed by a heap of rubble, disappearing from sight. She stared at the last place she had seen it for a few moments longer before activating her Focus and turning her attention to the waypoint marker. The number beneath it was incredibly close, now, but it also happened to be just past where she had seen the machine disappear. With a quiet groan, she closed her interface and drew the bow from across her shoulders.  


“Something tells me I’ll need this…”  


The snow crunched unbearably loudly beneath her boots as she made her way toward the pile of rubble ahead of her. As she drew closer, she began to make out the sound of voices carried on the wind and quickly dropped into a crouched stance. She scurried across the ground until she was hidden behind the pile, ducking just low enough to avoid the snow flurries from blowing directly into her face from off the top of it. The voices were much louder now, revealing them to be clearly men’s, mostly shouting back and forth. She carefully shifted her position, inching closer to the edge of the pile and leaning forward in an attempt to see around it. As soon as her head cleared the last bit of rubble, however, she found herself face-to-face with the glowing blue eye of the machine she had seen a minute ago.  


They seemed to match gazes for a moment before the blue light turned to yellow and it made a surprised chirping sound. As Elisabet instinctually nocked an arrow and raised her bow, the light turned red and the machine let out some kind of sound that was clearly supposed to be an alarm. A moment later, an arrow was buried deep in its “eye” as the light flickered and faded, the sounds of the various machinery within slowing down and coming to a halt following soon after.  


“Shit,” Elisabet muttered under her breath, ducking fully into cover, once again.  


The voices nearby began to shout again, but this time she had a feeling they were not simply talking about the weather or whatever it was they had been doing. That machine had been anything but quiet when it had let out its warning cry, no doubt drawing the attention of anyone and any _thing_ within a good radius.  


“Time for another way ‘round…”  


She quickly scanned the environment behind her, searching for somewhere less exposed to hide or possibly escape through, but nothing immediately presented itself. Her swearing only grew more constant as the voices began to draw closer, her hands tightening around the bow held within them. Finally, just as she was about to resign herself to whatever was about to happen when the men found her, she noticed an opening in the ruined building behind her. One of the former window openings had a large gash stretching from the lower righthand corner down to the ground, providing just enough of an opening for her to squeeze through… possibly.  


“ _Somehow I doubt tetanus shots are a thing, here._ ”  


With a quick glance back toward the approaching voices, she clenched her jaw and slung the bow over her shoulders, once again. She barely registered what she was doing as her body seemed to leap into action, breaking from cover and rushing toward the opening. Her right foot found a launching point on an old clump of asphalt, using it to propel herself toward the gash in the metal wall. As her hands closed around the metal surface, she could immediately feel how cold and sharp the edges were, but she still pressed on. Within the span of only a second or two, she had pulled herself up and swung her legs through the opening.  


As she began to fall through it, a small piece of her tunic near her shoulder caught one of the jagged edges, yanking her backwards and forcing her into an uncontrolled tumble. An involuntarily yelp of surprise escaped her as she flipped onto her side, landing hard on top of her left arm. Something incredibly hard slammed into her elbow as she let out a cry of pain and immediately tried to roll off it. As she scrambled to her knees, she gingerly poked at her left elbow. It hurt to the touch, but not excruciatingly so; she had broken her arm falling from a horse when she was six, and this felt nowhere near as painful as that memory.  


“Not broken, you’re fine, gotta move.”  


She glanced back toward the opening in the building as the sound of shouts from outside it drifted toward her, but she didn’t see anyone else, yet. Not wanting to wait to see if they would follow, she scrambled to her feet and began to make her way through the ruined and collapsed interior of the building. Every surface felt loose and crumbling to the touch, but she pushed onward, only allowing herself to pause for a moment when she reached a dead end. After thirty seconds or so of navigating by chance, she finally came to a large section of the outer wall that had fallen away long ago.  


She shifted her heading until she finally tumbled out of the opening, staggering to a stop a few steps later and glancing around her immediate vicinity to make sure no one else was nearby. Seeing no machines or men brandishing weapons in her direction, she leaned her head back, exhaling heavily. Tiny flecks of snow began to pepper her face, the small crystalline structures stinging slightly as they collided her with exposed skin. After a few more moments of stillness, she shook her head and took stock of her surroundings.  


Through her frantic scrambling, she had managed to find her way to the complete opposite side of the structure, which left her in a rather large, open area. More buildings lined the edge of the clearing, all in similar states of disrepair as the one behind her. Still, the feeling of familiarity nagged at her, but she couldn’t make out anything definitive that told her why the feeling was so pervasive, here.  


“ _I mean, I thought I knew that other ruined city, too._ ”  


The faint sound of voices behind her prompted her to glance back before activating her Focus interface and scanning the area before her, once again. She located the gold diamond waypoint off to her right before turning off the device. Without another glance back, she set off in the direction her Focus had indicated, moving as quickly as she could through the deepening snow. It was hard to tell if it were actively snowing, or if it was all simply blowing around, but certain areas easily came halfway up her calves, threatening to spill over the tops of her boots.  


After a minute or so of trudging through the snow, she came to an area that appeared to be some kind of path dug through the snow, each side lined with wooden structures to hold the banks from falling into the path; it almost reminded her of images of the trenches from World War One, except much wider. Glancing in either direction revealed no signs of other people, so she hopped into the walkway, brushing her legs off slightly before glancing up at the top of the small hill the path led to on her left.  


“ _Seems to be the easiest way onward._ ”  


With a sigh, she began to march up the slope, digging her feet in with each step in an attempt to stop herself from slipping and falling flat on her face. As she reached the top, her face fell, her hands instinctually clenching into fists. What appeared to be a large dig site lay before her, complete with numerous armed men, machines, and a patrolling Scarab off to her right.  


“Mother—”


	32. Maker's End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Monday. The moment many of you have been waiting for. Elisabet is about to get some answers, whether she wants them or not. I'm just gonna let the chapter speak for itself.

Before she could finish her thought, however, the world seemed to pitch wildly around her and she staggered several steps to her left. Her shoulder slammed into something hard and she swore under her breath, quickly reaching up to rub the spot. At first she thought she had run into the wooden wall of the trench she had just been standing in, but as she glanced over, she realized that it was distinctly not made of a natural material.  


As her head whipped around to take in her environment, the lights along the top of the hallway streaked before her, almost like a long-exposure photograph. She blinked several times, but the delay in her vision didn’t seem to go away; if anything, it only got worse. Suddenly, the realization that she was wavering where she stood while the world seemed to be slowly spinning hit her and her eyes widened.  


“Oh fuck, I’m s’drunk ‘gain.”  


With that, her legs became unsteady and she staggered to her left, falling against the wall, before slowly sliding down it into a seated position. A groan escaped her lips as she pressed her hands against her temples, closing her eyes for a moment. A voice broke through her haze a moment later and she blinked her eyes open, looking around in surprise before she realized that the space she was in was much darker than the hallway she had seen a moment ago, and yet, this one was still metal…  


“—are three hundred and fifty-five thousand, five hundred and ten days overdue for your meeting with Mr. Faro.”  


She blinked at the sound of the highly processed and synthetic voice, the timbre sounding as if it were playing to her from a mostly-broken speaker.  


“ _Faro?_ ”  


“Please proceed to the 35th floor.”  


Elisabet blinked quickly, focusing on the world immediately in front of her. After a few seconds, she began to realize that the metal hallway she was standing in was most definitely not the one at the Zero Dawn facility. This one was in ruins, the far end blocked by a pile of rubble, while the rest of the floor appeared coated in a fine layer of snow. Despite the ruined appearance, however, warm purple and blue lighting seemed to fill the hallway, providing an eerie ambiance to the area.  


“Holy shit, Travis’s bourbon was strong… Don’t think I’ve had hallucinations from alcohol before.”  


As she shook her head, the feeling of something beating against her shoulders and the increased weight on the back of her scalp made her pause. She glanced down to realize that she didn’t seem to be herself, after all.  


“Okay, where the fuck am I?”  


She quickly began to turn in place, taking in the large security door behind her, before facing the rubble in the hallway ahead. The Focus interface didn’t reveal much in the way of useful information, either, except that her objective had changed from “Go to Maker’s End” to “Go to Ted Faro’s office.”  


At the sight of his name on Aloy’s focus, Elisabet’s eyes widened and her knees began to feel weak.  


“He… that’s his… how? Where?”  


She closed the Focus interface and hurried down the short set of steps before her, scanning the hallway ahead until she spotted an open door to her left. The sign over it indicated that it should be an elevator, but no car appeared to be waiting as she approached the empty ledge looking into the faintly-lit shaft. Glancing up and down narrow chamber, she noticed that the services ladders leading up seemed to stop only a story or two above her, while the bottom of the shaft only appeared to be one floor lower.  


“Down it is.”  


She carefully climbed onto the service ladder to her right and made her way to the bottom of the elevator shaft, stepping off onto the landing below. Markings on the walls told her that it was the basement level, although gave no better indication of where to go beyond that.  


“Pretty far from the thirty-fifth floor…”  


The hallway to the right ended in a dead end, so she doubled back and continued farther into the building, passing a series of rooms that seemed to be set up as some kind of laboratories, all of them looking as if they hadn’t seen use in decades, if not centuries. Rust and stalagmite formations appeared everywhere, signs of nature reclaiming the unnatural construction bit by bit present everywhere she looked. Surprisingly, her Focus seemed able to pick up signals from many of the computers and machinery lying around, although much of the data was scrambled or corrupted. The hair on the back of her neck only stood up straighter with each room she investigated, until finally she climbed through a hole in the wall of one major hallway and found herself standing in what appeared to be an entryway to a larger atrium to her right.  


As she turned to face the doorway, her eyes caught sight of something large in the middle of the room and she let out a yelp of surprise, hopping backward a step or two as her hands instinctually reached for the bow slung across her torso. After a moment or two of staring down the behemoth just barely visible through the doorway, her pulse pounding loudly in her ears, she realized that it hadn’t shown any signs of motion. In fact, there appeared to be a good deal of ice and stalactite formations hanging from it.  


Slowly, she moved closer, finally passing through the door and entering the atrium beyond. Immediately, her eyes widened as she took in the space, images flashing before her eyes, memories rushing in all at once. She had stood in this exact spot before. She had seen this statue, this model, before. She had heard the words the synthetic voice was just beginning to say. She knew this room, this building.  


“Welcome to Faro Automated Solutions, where all the problems of tomorrow are being solved… today!”  


The bow fell from her hands and clattered to the floor as she slowly began to stagger backwards, her chest heaving with each rushed breath.  


“No, no, this… this isn’t happening… this can’t be real…”  


“With over 25,000 human employees based in nations and corporate holdings across the globe, Faro leads the world in every sector of self-sustaining, fully-automated technology.”  


“H-how? How can this be here?!”  


“From revolutionary consumer products close to home, like the Faro Focus…”  


“Shut up! This can’t be real!”  


Elisabet suddenly grabbed the spear from behind her back and charged forward, driving the tip into the console in front of the Khopesh model and sending sparks into the air. The electronic voice slowly began to slow and warp until it stopped completely, the console that controlled it almost entirely destroyed. As she leaned on the spear for support, Elisabet felt the strength leave her legs and she began to sink into a kneeling position. As she finally fell to the floor, the pain in her knees barely registering as they hit the hard floor, a sob escaped her, echoing about the large atrium.  


“That means… means that all of this… it’s… it’s all real… Everything actually existed… Ted, the plague… _me_ … and somehow… this _fucking_ place… is still standing.”  


She stared down at her hands braced against her thighs for a few moments before slowly clenching them into fists around the fabric of her oddly-fashioned skirt, the soft furs and leather providing little comfort within her iron grip.  


“Interesting… very interesting.”  


The sudden intrusion of an unknown voice caused her to jump in surprise, quickly rolling into a standing position and swiping the bow off the ground. As she nocked an arrow and drew it, she scanned the room for the source of the sound, but nothing moved, except for her.  


“I think you of all people should understand how a Focus call works.”  


The deep voice in her ear sent chills down her spine as she slowly lowered the bow, her eyes still scanning the darkened edges of the room.  


“Who are you?”  


A moment later, her Focus interface activated as the purple-tinged, semi-transparent image of a man in the most peculiar outfit Elisabet had seen, yet, materialized before her. His top appeared to be similar to one of the polyester-style jackets she wore in her “normal” life, although the sleeves had been ripped off. What appeared to be a large, metal chain of some kind was wrapped across his torso, although on closer inspection it seemed to be a piece of a machine that had been torn off and evidently used as a fashion piece. Strange piercings were set into the skin of his chin, as well as near the crown of his shaved head; they looked as if they had been sunk into the skin, rather than placed over it, somehow.  


“My name is Sylens, and it is a pleasure to finally speak to you, Elisabet.”  


Her breath caught in her throat as she felt ice pour through her veins, her fingers loosening their grip on the bow enough that it almost fell to the ground, once again. The world around her seemed to narrow until the only things that existed were her and the image of this strange man who she had never seen before and who somehow knew her name.  


“W-what did you just call me?”  


“Based on that display a moment ago, I do believe I am not speaking to Aloy, correct?”  


“What the fuck…?”  


“I have waited years for such an opportunity, so I hope you understand how I am unable to pass up this moment.”  


The self-satisfied smirk on the man’s face only fueled the fire building in Elisabet’s chest as the strength returned to her hands and her fingers clenched tightly into fists.  


“How do you know that name? And how do you know… what you’ve said?”  


“Your files have proven difficult to crack, seeing as they were encrypted so tightly, bound to your gene print, however some of your colleagues’ were… more readily available.”  


Elisabet continued to glare back at the man, remaining silent as he seemed to revel in her response.  


“There were numerous logs and journals telling about the ‘strange’ behavior of one Elisabet Sobeck, but nothing seemed conclusive, until I found one, buried deep in a correspondence between someone named Samina Ebadji and General Herres.”  


The use of each name threatened to weaken her firm stance, but she tried her best not to waver or show any sign of how it affected her.  


“She spoke of her colleague and leader experiencing… strange behavior, to the point where she seemed to be behaving as an entirely different personality… one simply named ‘Aloy.’”  


Finally, Elisabet was unable to hold back the force that had been building in her chest the entire time.  


“How the fuck do you know all this? Where did you find it?”  


He recoiled slightly at her sudden outburst, but his smirk returned almost just as quickly.  


“So, I see I am correct.”  


“You seemed so sure a second ago,” she shot back.  


“True, but there was always the possibility that you had ‘slipped back.’”  


“Well, okay, fine. You’ve got me. Elisabet Sobeck, annoyed to make your acquaintance.”  


She held her arms out to either side and performed a bow, her motions overly dramatic as her jaw remained clenched tightly.  


“Incredible, an actual channel into the world of the Old Ones, inside the body of an outcast Nora girl.”  


“Are you just here to lob insults and show off your superiority complex, or do you have an actual goal in mind?”  


“All in good time, Doctor.”  


A shiver ran down her spine at his use of the title so many people in her own world had used for her; even then, she had never fully gotten used to it.  


“There is so much to learn from you, so many questions I have, but first, I believe we are both interested in the same goal at this location: whatever is in the office of Ted Faro.”  


Elisabet’s hands instinctually clenched into fists at the mention of his name, but she otherwise remained silent.  


“We will talk again once you reach the top floor. I’m sure you know the way.”  


With that, the image dissipated and her Focus interface turned off, once again, leaving her alone in the otherwise silent atrium. She remained still for several long moments before letting out a cry of rage and swinging her fist at empty air.  


“Motherfucker!”  


The word echoed about the room for several seconds afterward, eventually disappearing into the background noise of the wind through the cracks and holes in the building above her. Her jaw was clenched so tightly that she actually began to grow afraid she would crack a tooth, so she forced herself to take a deep breath in through her nose and slowly release it through her mouth.  


“ _One thing at a time._ ”  


She quickly opened her Focus interface and updated the main goal of the current task to simply read: “Reach Ted Faro’s office on the top floor.” With that, she closed the interface and grabbed the shaft of the spear beside her, yanking it from the console with a good deal of force.  


“Now, what do you have here, Ted, that’s so fucking important?”  


As she began to walk toward the nearest door leading out of the atrium, her balance grew unsteady and she staggered several steps to the side. At first, it seemed as if nothing had changed, and the occurrence had simply been a random bout of vertigo, but she quickly began to realize that the image of the facility before her was slightly different than her view from moments ago. The lights were much brighter, and everything seemed less decrepit and neglected. Despite all of this, a throbbing sensation was quickly building in her head, accompanying the unsteady feeling that had settled into her legs.  


She blinked several times and tried to focus on the hallway before her, but everything seemed to be fading between various levels of blurriness. Finally, she raised her arm to the right and slowly shuffled sideways until she felt her palm come into contact with the cold surface of the metal wall. Almost immediately, the world seemed to slow its spinning and titling and her vision became much clearer. As she continued to breathe slowly and deeply, everything began to settle a little more.  


“ _Gotta get back to my room. Need to lie down._ ”  


Elisabet glanced at the door ahead of her and quickly realized that she had no idea where it led. For all she knew, it was to a storage closet, or the bathroom, rather than her own quarters. She swore under her breath before reaching toward where her Focus usually sat against her ear. Much to her relief, she was still wearing it, so she activated the interface and brought up the communication application. She quickly entered the information and hit the “send” button. A moment later, the image of GAIA’s face appeared on the interface before her.  


“Query: is everything okay?”  


“Think so, just… still sorta drunk and… lost.”  


“Elisabet?”  


“Issa me.”  


A moment later, a glowing blue line appeared in the middle of the floor, stretching down the hallway behind her.  


“Follow this line, and you should reach your quarters.”  


“Thank ya…”  


Elisabet slowly moved down the hallway, using the wall as support, following GAIA’s guiding line. After several slow minutes of stumbling and staggering around several corners, the line ended at a door that she felt she recognized as her own. She raised her hand and opened the digital lock, allowing the door to slide open with a quiet hiss. The last few steps into her quarters and to her bed felt like a monumental amount of energy compared to her previous walk, but she made it just in time to collapse face-down on the somewhat scratchy blanket.  


“Query: are you okay? It seems as if you have fallen—”  


“I’m fine,” Elisabet mumbled, although her words were barely audible with her face buried. “Jus’ tired…”  


“I did say that rest may be good for you…”  


“I know _mom_ …”  


Elisabet suddenly stopped mid-quip before slowly rolling onto her back and facing the ceiling. She could feel the corners of her eyes growing damp as she grit her teeth in an attempt to hold the tears back.  


“Query: is something wrong?”  


“No… I mean, yeah… I mean…”  


She ran her hands over her face, wiping away the drops that had started to form before they could begin to run down her cheeks.  


“GAIA, can you play any of my persal—personable—personal rec-records?”  


“That depends, Elisabet. Which ones are you referring to?”  


She remained silent for several long moments before clearing her throat.  


“Ones of my mom.”  


A moment later, a soft electronic chime sounded and the slightly digitally distorted voice that Elisabet knew so well began to play in her ear.  


“Hey honey, just wanted to give you a shout to say: you’ll do fine. I know you’ve been freaking out about this whole presentation, but trust me. You’ve got nothing to lose to these eggheads and old fogies; you’re gonna go up there and just by talking about what you know, you’re gonna show them who really knows their shit. A bit of my secret motherly advice, now that you’re a grown woman? Have a couple glasses of wine tonight, hell maybe even a shot of whiskey, watch a shitty movie, and get some sleep. You’ll wake up and feel way more relaxed than if you let this get the better of yourself.  


“All joking aside, kiddo… I’m damn proud of you. You’ve come so far doing what you’ve dreamed… and I want you to know I’ve loved watching every minute of it. Knock ‘em dead, Lizzy, and just remember that Momma loves you.”  


The recording came to a stop, leaving Elisabet in silence. Over the course of the voicemail, her eyes had grown more and more watery, but she had stopped caring about brushing away or hiding the tears. Sounds somewhere between sobs and snivels escaped her as she slowly rolled onto her side, curling into a ball and burying her face in her blanket.  


“Query: was this not a suitable recording?”  


“No, GAIA… it was perfect. Thank you.”  


A few moments of silence passed before the AI’s voice spoke again, the tone seemingly even softer and more soothing than before.  


“You cared a great deal for your mother.”  


“Care, GAIA. Care.”  


“You do not often ask to hear such recordings, what has brought this to your mind, now?”  


Elisabet remained silent for several seconds before sniffling and wiping the corner of her eye on her blanket.  


“I jus’… miss her all th’sudden.”  


“Query: is this related to what you have experienced tonight?”  


She shrugged.  


“I dunno.”  


Several long moments of silence followed before the AI spoke up again.  


“I will let you rest, Elisabet. We may speak more once you wake up.”  


“Okie doke. Nighty night, GAIA.”  


“Goodnight, Elisabet.”  


She could have sworn she detected a hint of amusement in GAIA’s tone as she quickly found herself drifting off into unconsciousness, fully allowing the feeling to overtake her. A break from reality was exactly what she needed, if but for a moment.


	33. Maker's End, Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, totally forgot that it was past my usual posting time, but I have a good reason: I'm almost done with the ending. That's right, there is an actual end, and I've almost finished it. We're still a ways out from here, but it's going to be one big rush to the end from here on out. Get ready, cuz things are about to come to a head in some very extreme ways.
> 
> Anyways, we're not done at Maker's End, yet.

Unfortunately, as soon as her eyes slid closed, she felt a cold chill roll across her skin and she desperately tried to cling to the feeling of sleep, but the rest of her senses began to creep in, bringing with them the howling of wind and the stinging of small, cold pellets against her skin. With a heavy sigh, her eyes slid open to reveal not her blanket, but a field of blinding, white snow. A greater sense of confusion rolled over her for a moment until she began to realize that what she had first thought were rocks and natural formations on the ground were actually chairs, a table, and the crumbled stone of a ruined conference room. The feeling of déjà vu came over her, once again, as she shivered and began to slowly turn in place, taking in the entirety of her surroundings.  


“As you wish.”  


The now-familiar deep voice in her ear caused her to jump in surprise, whirling around to find the image of the man from the atrium materializing, once again. The expression on his face seemed to be somewhere between annoyance and smug satisfaction as he adjusted his stance.  


“Do you really have no idea how monumental are the discoveries you just made, Aloy? I expected more of you.”  


Elisabet’s teeth ground together at his condescending tone, but the realization that he still believed he was talking to Aloy hit her and she tried her best to stay in character.  


“”  


“All I’m realizing is that you’re a monumental annoyance. Who are you, exactly?”  


He regarded her with an unreadable expression for a moment or two before launching into his next bout with her.  


“Of all the questions you could ask right now—that’s the one you choose? I’ve spent decades searching the ruins of the Old Ones, trying to solve the mystery of what happened to them.”  


Elisabet’s heart rate began to accelerate at his mention of the term Aloy had used to describe her and her team, “the Old Ones,” but tried not to display any sort of outward reaction.  


“For years, I suspected the Faro robots destroyed their civilization… but I could never confirm it. In minutes, you uncover more ancient knowledge than I have in a lifetime… and what you want to know—is my name?”  


“Yep.”  


“Sylens. That’s my name. Now why don’t you try asking another question—something more behooving of the mind you share that skull of yours with.”  


Something between confusion and panic came over Elisabet as she physically staggered back a step or two, quickly trying to come up with a retort that she felt Aloy might respond with in such a situation.  


“W-what are you talking about?”  


“I know about your situation with the mind of one Elisabet Sobeck—the very woman you just saw in those recordings. Due to some inexplicable circumstance, you have been blessed with the opportunity to experience the life of the Old Ones through her eyes, and she through yours.”  


“How? How do you know this?”  


“How I know is inconsequential, however I would have hoped this bond would have rubbed off on you more than it has, it seems.”  


Fire flared in Elisabet’s chest as her hands clenched into fists by her sides.  


“Such strong words from someone so far away.”  


“And so it shall remain, for the time being.”  


Elisabet wished he was actually standing before her so she could punch the smirk off his face, but while the thought was amusing, actually taking a swing at the holographic image would accomplish nothing, in that moment.  


“Fine, well, I can’t explain it, either,” she finally sighed through clenched teeth. “I don’t know how we’re connected, but… we are… somehow.”  


“Perhaps, then, it is time to expand your frame of inquiry. Only then will you see just how big your problems really are.”  


“How so?”  


“You’ve chased a personal riddle into a crowd of larger mysteries. The common thread is your connection to Elisabet Sobeck.”  


The use of her name in such an impartial way in a conversation directed to her sent shivers down her spine, but she quickly tried to recover.  


“So… what? Do you have the answer to that already and are just playing coy with me?”  


“No, I don’t. Neither of us do. The only way to find out is to keep going, to keep making discoveries. Thanks to you, we’ve only just now learned that Faro robots once threatened to end life on Earth.”  


“And yet… here we are.”  


She held her arms out to either side and glanced around the empty, ruined room before letting them fall to her sides, once again.  


“Clearly. So—what did Elisabet do? How did she stop the robots before all was lost?”  


“ _She didn’t. I can’t. That’s not possible, we’ve gone over it so many times…_ ”  


“I… I have no idea.”  


“I believe the answer lies in this ‘Project Zero Dawn’ she mentioned. Now, are you ready to go get the answer?”  


“For you?”  


“For me, partly, but also for you.”  


She sighed heavily, placing her hands on her hips and staring at the ground between the hologram and herself before shaking her head and looking back up at him.  


“I guess so.”  


“You guess so?”  


“Are you really going to argue pedantic right now?”  


The image of Sylens regarded her in silence for a few moments before shifting his stance slightly.  


“That is… quite the word to have learned… perhaps I have been underestimating you, Elisabet.”  


“ _Fuck._ ”  


“Nope. Guess she rubbed off on me more than you thought, though.”  


She stared daggers back at the image of the man before her for several long moments before he finally moved, once again.  


“Perhaps, indeed. Regardless, why are you still standing here, then?”  


“Because I have a few questions for you, now.”  


“What could be of more importance to you, right now?”  


“The man you undoubtedly know I met, Olin, mentioned that the reason these Faro robots are being resurrected is due to something called ‘Hades.’ Do you know what it is?”  


“I don’t know. The Eclipse describe it as a ‘Buried Shadow,’ some kind of devil.”  


“That’s it?”  


“I’m sorry, I do not know more.”  


“Okay, then, why does a devil want me dead?”  


“I also do not know that.”  


“Maybe for the same reason you’ve been trying to talk to me.”  


He appeared to be waiting for her to go on, but she couldn’t tell whether he actually understood what she meant, or was simply trying to get her to play her card, first.  


“Whatever link I have to this Elisabet.”  


“Perhaps. It has been using the Eclipse to resurrect Faro robots. Whatever its overall intentions are, it is safe to say that one of its main goals is that it wants you dead.”  


“But what kind of threat does some random woman pose?”  


She began to pace back and forth before the image of Sylens, her hands still firmly braced on her hips.  


“That would seem to indicate your link to Elisabet as being something of note.”  


“Why? Because it’s afraid somehow I’ll find something of hers?”  


“Perhaps not even something physical, per se.”  


Elisabet stared at the rusted metal wall ahead of her, eyes out of focus, for a few moments as Sylens’ last sentence ran through her head.  


“ _Something I know? But what? HADES was designed to more or less be the antithesis to GAIA, so maybe it just wants whoever looks like me to die just because of that? But if HADES is here, and active, where is GAIA?_ "  


“It’s worried I’ll find out something she knew?”  


“Perhaps. You are the first one I have seen who has been able to access this building and the information within with such ease. That very well could pose a potential threat. I have found hints of so-called ‘super weapons’ in ancient data. Maybe to stop the robots, the civilization of the Old Ones had to destroy itself.”  


A shiver ran down Elisabet’s spine as she turned back toward the image of Sylens, stepping in front of him, once again.  


“On another topic, how have you been tracking my Focus, and why?”  


“Every Focus emits a signal—a ‘voice’ that only other Focuses can hear. I know how to string those voices together, how to make them talk to each other—to communicate even over vast distances.”  


“How did you learn to do that? More ancient data?”  


“Some, but also years of study and experimentation. In principle, it’s not so different from how you override machines. I override Focuses.”  


Elisabet tried not to let her confusion show too clearly on her face at his mentioning of overriding machines, but she was still somewhat impressed that this man had figured out how to establish a network without any functioning towers or satellites, as far as she was aware.  


“So do you spy on the Eclipse, too, or just me?”  


“I can spy on them, yes, but overriding their connections is… complicated.”  


“So you have no inside information on why they’re after me?”  


“No, unfortunately.”  


An idea suddenly occurred to her as she folded her arms over her chest, rubbing at her upper arms against the chill that had begun to settle into them, despite the actual sleeves in her clothing she was sporting, for once.  


“Do you think the reason they’re after me is because they think I am her?”  


“What are you alluding to?”  


“Exactly what it sounds like. Hades is afraid that somehow I am Elisabet and wants me dead for that reason?”  


“Well, if that were the case, you would be nearly a thousand years old, however, I think we can both agree that you, specifically, are not actually her.”  


“Oh?”  


“If you were actually Elisabet who had found a way to make herself immortal, there would be no record of the ‘episodes’ where she saw this world, seemingly through your eyes. Most people do not experience visions of their own futures, at least in quite such detail.”  


“So you think there’s no way that she still exists, somehow?”  


“Seemingly she would exist in appearance through you, which is most definitely peculiar, but not quite conclusive enough for me to say that you are her. Mentally? I would say that is not the case.”  


Elisabet ground her teeth as she felt her cheeks heating up.  


“I don’t know how much you have been able to discover about Elisabet Sobeck, but she had an unbelievable technological acumen, unmatched by most in her time.”  


Elisabet rolled her eyes, his words bringing to mind echoes of articles and speeches given by university professors that she did not entirely believe, herself.  


“Okay, so if I’m not her, do you think she’s still out there, somewhere?”  


“That I do not know. There is always the chance, I suppose. I have found references to an experimental process called ‘cryogenics’ that essentially involves freezing and unfreezing people at a later date. There is always the possibility that she was able to perfect this process before the world was fully destroyed.”  


“ _Now that’d be a thought…_ ”  


“But this is speculation—wasting time.”  


“Well, then where would you suggest looking next?”  


“Perhaps where Elisabet mentioned, the ruins of the U.S. Robotics Command. The Oseram now call it the ‘Grave-Hoard.’”  


“Why not directly to the Zero Dawn facility?”  


Sylens seemed somewhat taken aback, but quickly tried to regain his composure.  


“We do not know if it was ever—”  


“Cut the shit. If you know Elisabet was having episodes to the point where you’ve tried to talk to her through me, then you know it exists, and more.”  


Sylens stared back at her with a somewhat incredulous expression as a smirk pulled at Elisabet’s lips.  


“Tell me where it is, Sylens.”  


“Beneath the Citadel. The palace at Sunfall.”  


“Then that’s where I go.”  


“It is crawling with Eclipse agents, many in positions of authority, and all of them wearing Focuses. The moment they see you, Hades will, too. It’ll issue another kill order, and you will have an army bearing down on top of you.”  


“So we find a way to jam them.”  


“It’s not quite so simple—”  


“Oh? Do you think that it’s outside the realm of someone with an ‘unbelievable technological acumen, unmatched by most in her time?’”  


Sylen’s eyes widened slightly as the realization fully seemed to take hold.  


“Elisabet—”  


“Good talking with you, Sylens.”  


With that, she closed the call between the two of them. Within a minute, she had dug through her Focus’s interface until she located the broadcast settings. With just a few changes to the options, she had effectively hidden her signal from all outside observers.  


“Guess now I can try to block your number, bastard.”  


With a sigh, she navigated back to the main interface of the Focus and stared at the options blankly for a moment or two, tapping her fingers on the side of her skirt as she debated her next move.  


“ _Gotta figure out where the hell I am compared to the Zero Dawn facility… If this is FAS, then that was in Salt Lake City, right? Bryce is almost all the way across the state, to the south. Another long, fucking walk…_ ”  


It didn’t take her long to find an option at the main menu of the interface labelled “Map,” so with a shrug, she opened it. Immediately, what looked like a satellite image of the world appeared before her, although the markings on it were not immediately recognizable. Where the yellow arrow that seemed to indicate herself was located was not marked with “Salt Lake City,” but instead “Maker’s End.”  


“Great, gotta navigate by Aloy’s world…”  


After searching in the general vicinity she guessed Bryce would be located from the FAS campus, she came across a marker that when she activated it revealed the title of “Sunfall.”  


“That’s what Sylens said, right? The Citadel at Sunfall.”  


A shiver ran down her spine as she quickly set the location as her next waypoint and began to hurriedly change the “To Do List” to reflect this. Her fingers were shaking as she created a new entry, simply labelled “Zero Dawn” and detailed what Aloy had to do. The thought that she was so close to being in the same location in both timelines was almost enough to trigger an involuntary panic attack, but she forced the feeling down as best she could until she had finished the description. She made sure to re-read it twice to ensure that Aloy would have all of the information she needed to head in the right direction, and also hopefully avoid setting an entire opposing army against her.  


“Whatever you do, do not enter the palace on your own. The Eclipse are there, and HADES will be able to send them another order to kill you. When you arrive in the area of Sunfall, wait until another one of these episodes happens and I am able to take down their Focus network and allow us safe entrance into the facility. We are _this_ close to answers, so please: listen to me.”  


With a heavy sigh, she hit the “save” button and closed the interface with a tap of the device on her ear.  


“Now, what the hell did she find in Ted’s office?”  


As she turned around, she found herself frozen to the spot. At first she wondered if it was some kind of attack by someone or something else, but she quickly realized it was just her own mind when she fully comprehended what she was looking at. The image of Ted Faro’s office covered in snow, all of the large glass windows and some of the metal walls missing and open to the sky around them sent a shiver down her spine.  


“ _I’ve been in this exact spot, before…_ ”  


For a moment, the image of the room, as she remembered it, appeared before her, complete with Ted rising from his seat at the far end of the table, but she blinked quickly, bringing the snow and the destruction back in place. As she opened her eyes the last time, however, she realized that the image of Ted hadn’t disappeared and her heart rate began to skyrocket.  


“What the—?”  


“Where’s your legal team, Ted?”  


The sound of her own voice nearly brought her heart to a stop as she glanced down at herself, only to find that she was still dressed in Aloy’s clothes. As her head lifted back toward Ted, she noticed that he seemed to be somewhat transparent and gave off a purple hue. A moment later, her eyes caught sight of another slightly shimmering figure and as she began to step to the side to get a better look, she immediately recognized the short, red bob and grey sweater.  


“No need! I dropped all eighteen lawsuits the moment you landed.”  


She slowly began to move toward the images of herself and Ted, eyes transfixed as she listened to the familiar conversation unfold.  


“All right, this promises to be interesting.”  


“Perhaps we could have lunch brought in? Get reacquainted…”  


“I know you, Ted. You’ve screwed something up… something big—”  


She couldn’t help herself as she reached out to the image of herself, her hand passing through the projection of the figure.  


“ _That’s me…_ really _me…_ here… _in Aloy’s world…_ ”  


“There’s a glitch in the Chariot line.”  


A shiver suddenly ran down her spine as her hand reached for the spear affixed to her back. A moment later, she swung it through the image of Ted with a cry of rage. The metal tip glanced off the table nearby with a loud clang that quickly dissipated in the howling wind around her, along with the last trails of her vocalization.  


She didn’t need to hear the rest of the conversation to know how it went, she had been there. With a shaking hand, she reached up to the device beside her right ear and turned off the interface, removing the images of herself and Ted with it. Her knees began to shake as she reached out toward the table, grasping it firmly before allowing herself to sink into a seated position on the ground beside it. The cold of the snow beneath her barely registered as she let the spear fall to the ground in front of her feet, her arms quickly folding around her knees and bringing them in close to her chest.  


“ _You knew this was Ted’s office, and that Sylens already knew your name, so this shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. Think of the next step: get to Zero Dawn, find answers… other answers._ ”  


Despite her mental pep talk, her muscles didn’t want to respond, instead keeping her on the ground next to the table in Ted’s old office, listening to the sounds of the cold wind whipping through the half-destroyed structure. Flashes of what it looked like when it had been in one piece kept appearing in her mind’s eye, but each time she tried to shove them out of the way as quickly as they came. The images started to come faster and faster, and she was struggling to keep up, until finally she closed her eyes, squeezing them shut tightly until she saw strange light patterns. A voice started to penetrate the darkness, until it grew to an unavoidable volume.  


“Lis, wait.”  


“No, Ted. You got my answer. Deal with it.”  


“Lis, you’re overreacting.”  


Her eyes slid open to the image of a desk, her hands braced on top of it. A moment later, her head lifted to reveal Ted, yet again, but this time he seemed much more tangible and real.  


“Overreacting? You lied to me.”  


The words reached her ears, bringing back a memory of the moment she had spoken them, but the feeling of her actually speaking didn’t register in her mind.  


“Lis—”  


“You told me we would be working on technology to save the planet, not destroy it.”  


“That is what we’re doing, we’re just exploring another market to accomplish the same goal—”  


“How is building machines loaded with guns and missiles supposed to be at all saving the planet?!”  


“Protection is saving, Lis—”  


“It’s Dr. Sobeck to you, now.”  


Ted’s mouth fell open as his face registered something between confusion and shock. With that, she watched as she turned and grabbed a box on the chair behind her and began to walk around the edge of the desk. Ted didn’t even try to stop her as she moved past him, but she stopped in the doorway at the last second.  


“Mr. Faro.”  


She looked back up at the image of Ted before turning and entering the hallway, only for it all to fade away into darkness. Panic overtook her for a moment before she forced her eyes open, flailing about briefly before feeling a solid surface beneath her and relaxing, somewhat. Her hands slowly ran across the fuzzy, yet slightly scratchy, fabric beneath her for a few more moments before she forced herself to roll onto her side. The image of her digital clock appeared before her, but it took another few moments for her mind to comprehend the numbers on it.  


“ _I have to get up, my alarm should have gone off…_ ”  


As she struggled to sit up, her head throbbed and she moaned softly, falling back onto her pillow.  


“ _Or maybe not._ ”  


“Elisabet.”  


“GAIA, please, I’m tired…”  


“I just wanted to ask if you were okay. You have not been overly responsive or—yourself—for several hours, so I have had no true way to see if you are okay.”  


“ _Oh._ ”  


She remained silent for several long moments before sighing and rubbing her eyes.  


“Physically, just drunk… or hungover… I dunno. Mentally… I think I need some more sleep before I can speak on that.”  


“Okay. I was simply concerned.”  


A small smile pulled at her lips, yet she kept her eyes closed.  


“Thank you, GAIA.”


	34. The Hard Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you following along as this has been released, you may notice something has changed in the description at the top: an end chapter number. It's not for a ways off, still, but it has happened. I wrote the final chapter within the past week, and let me just say: even I wasn't ready for it.
> 
> Don't think this means it's going to be smooth sailing in the meantime, there's still a lot left between now and then.
> 
> There are still big plans in store for this story.
> 
> So come along, won't you?

When Elisabet awoke again later that day, she was surprised to find how much time had passed. A pounding headache had taken hold since then, as well, and only exacerbated the overall grossness she felt, primarily stemming from the churning feeling in her stomach. She groaned, squinting at the bright lights of her Focus interface while attempting to convince herself to stand up from her seat at the edge of her bed.  


“Query: is everything all right, Elisabet?”  


“Yes, GAIA, just… hungover.”  


“Files indicate you should drink water to help overcome the dehydrating effects of alcohol consumption.”  


“Believe me, I know…”  


Finally, when she had managed to pull herself to her feet, she crossed to her crate full of clothes. She stared down at the clothes on top and let out a groan, her shoulders deflating. Vomit sat on top of her usual grey and white jackets and pants, undoubtedly from some point during the night when she “wasn’t herself.”  


“ _Well, at least I didn’t have to deal with it. Sorry, Aloy. Also, goddammit girl._ ”  


She sighed and carefully balled them up, moving them aside before digging deep into the bottom. A moment later, dressed in a pair of old, stained jeans and a Carnegie-Mellon sweatshirt, she stepped out of her room and into the hallway beyond.  


“Anything I should know about right away?” she asked, scanning through her messages and To Do list as she walked toward the break room.  


“I would expect a call with Herres rather soon.”  


“Predicting the future, now?”  


“He has attempted to call twice already, while you were asleep.”  


“Oh…”  


With a heavy sigh, she closed the Focus interface and entered the break room, only to find Travis already standing over the sink, a mug of coffee in his hand. As they locked eyes, both froze mid-motion. Finally, after a moment or two, Elisabet sighed and began to step further into the room.  


“So, crazy night, last night, huh?”  


Travis turned from the sink, a grin on his face as Elisabet rubbed her temples with her fingers.  


“I don’t think I’ve had that much since college.”  


“What: fun or alcohol?”  


Elisabet rolled her eyes as Travis continued to grin, taking another sip of his coffee.  


“Both.”  


“Damn, girl, you gotta get out more.”  


She shot him another look as she moved around him, grabbing a mug from the cabinet and pouring some of the campfire coffee into it.  


“Pretty casual Friday today, huh?”  


She glanced over at him to see he was gesturing to all of her and she assumed he meant the attire.  


“Fuck it, you know?”  


He just nodded slowly.  


“Fuck it.”  


She took a sip of the slightly burnt-tasting liquid, grimacing slightly at the bitterness before turning and leaning against the counter beside Travis.  


“So… you never told me you were a farm girl, Lizzy.”  


“Didn’t we go over this last night?”  


“Kinda, but I want details.”  


She sighed as he turned to face her, looking to her expectantly.  


“My mom and I had… twenty head of cattle at the highest? Few different horses over the years, all workers.”  


“Dairy or meat?”  


“Both, but mainly dairy.”  


“That it?”  


“We tried our hand at crops, but only really took to feed corn and stuff like that.”  


Travis took a sip of coffee, nodding slowly.  


“Why does ‘Mr. Technology Genius’ care, let alone want to know about, shit like that?”  


“Well, although my slick looks might fool you, I did happen to grow up in the middle of farm country, actually.”  


Elisabet snorted before quickly trying to hide it with her cup of coffee.  


“You callin’ me a liar?”  


“I just can’t picture you, of all people, working in the fields or in a barn, shit on your shoes…”  


“I’ll have you know that I let my family down by not doin’ that.”  


She raised her eyebrows at him as he sighed, looking down into his own mug. After several long moments of silence, she began to get the feeling he had actually been serious.  


“You’re not making a joke?”  


“I guess it’s hard to tell anymore, huh?”  


He laughed dryly before shaking his head.  


“Naw, my ma and pops didn’t get why I cared for or took to computers so well when we barely had use for them outside of selling and buying materials from the farm.”  


Elisabet simply stared over at Travis, completely at a loss for what to say.  


“I snuck into classes at the community college a few towns over for a while, prof thought I was just some punk kid, but when I had a million questions every week… well, I think he ended up liking me more than his actual students. Y’know, the ones who paid his salary?”  


Elisabet smiled softly as Travis chuckled, taking another drink from his mug.  


“Fella was a stand-up guy, I’ll tell ya. Just, uh, don’t tell him what I ended up using all that shit for, down the line.”  


“You mean helping save humanity?”  


He gave her a look and laughed softly.  


“Well, maybe that’s the one part you should.”  


After a few more moments of silence, Elisabet sighed and nudged him with her elbow.  


“Hey, your sappy bullshit is safe with me.”  


He glanced over at her for a moment before they both started laughing. It took a minute or two for Elisabet to get her breathing under control, her face hot and her temples throbbing with the headache that still hadn’t subsided.  


“Thanks, Boss.”  


She glanced over at him for a moment before smiling, once again.  


“Lis. It’s casual today, y’know?”  


Just then, the sound of ringing in her ear caused Elisabet to jump, nearly dropping her coffee in the process. She relaxed a moment later as she opened her Focus interface to see the name she had inevitably expected to see at some point this morning.  


“General Herres is calling,” she sighed, glancing over at Travis. “What’s your bet on how it’ll go?”  


“Can’t be any worse than the usual, right?”  


Elisabet took a deep breath before pressing the “answer” button and the wavelength that reacted to the sound from the call appeared, along with the time counting up from 0:00.  


“General.”  


“Dr. Sobeck, it seems you’ve been a busy woman this morning.”  


“Yeah, it’s been… a morning.”  


“Well, I’m glad I finally managed to get ahold of you. I have some bad news.”  


“ _Same as always._ ”  


“What is it?”  


“We will not be able to keep the transports hidden from the swarm for much longer, so we will need to begin moving all essential equipment and personal to the GAIA Prime site within the next day or so.”  


“That’s… soon.”  


“Projections have accelerated, unfortunately.”  


“Where are they at, right now?”  


“Two weeks.”  


Elisabet’s eyes widened as the mug nearly slid from her hand, once again.  


“Y-you’re serious?”  


“I wish I wasn’t.”  


The call fell silent for several long moments before Elisabet cleared her throat.  


“Well, then we better get our shit together.”  


“I’ll leave you to it. We’ll figure out an exact time for the move later today.”  


“Got it.”  


“Herres out.”  


With that, she closed the interface, but her eyes continued to stare vacantly into space where the call information had been a moment ago. She fell back against the counter, once again, most of the strength left in her seemingly draining in one fell swoop. They had known this day was coming for months, yet hearing Herres actually say it was within the next two weeks…  


“ _That’s only enough time for another paycheck or two… food doesn’t even go bad that fast… Well, I guess everything’s expiring pretty soon._ ”  


She slowly became aware that someone was talking to her and she shook her head, blinking rapidly as she tried to clear the haze that had fallen over her. Travis was looking to her with a concerned expression on his face, one hand waving in front of her.  


“Lizzy, everything all right?”  


“We’ve got less than two weeks.”  


Confusion creased his face for a moment before the realization seemed to hit him and his eyes widened slightly.  


“Two weeks ‘till it’s all—”  


He made a dragging motion across his throat with his thumb, causing a shiver to run down her spine.  


“Y-yeah.”  


He just nodded slowly, staring vacantly into space, as well, before he heaved a heavy sigh, glancing down into his mug before finishing off what remained in it.  


“Well, guess we better start packin’.”

 

Within the hour, the facility had turned into a beehive of activity, once again. People were running about, carrying boxes or pushing carts full of equipment. The executive decision to leave most of the actual computers and constructions, themselves, behind had been made, yet there were some that had still been deemed necessary to either bring to GAIA Prime or Elysium. Elisabet’s console screens were filled with progress bars as she copied a good deal of her information onto external storage units in order to bring with her, each one seemingly moving painfully slow.  


Her hands seemed incapable of staying still, so she had forced them into her pockets as she stood at the window looking over the main area of the facility beneath her. All of the tests had been completed the day before, and everything had been found successful, yet doubt and fear still lingered in the back of her mind.  


“ _What if we forget something here and only find out after they seal the doors? What if we only got a false positive on those tests and everything goes to shit when it’s actually installed?_ ”  


She shook her head before leaning forward, placing her forehead against the glass. The cool surface felt good against her warm skin, but she didn’t have long for a moment of respite before an electronic chime surrounded in the room behind her.  


“Dr. Sobeck, may I speak out of protocol?”  


She sighed, turning from the glass to find the projection of GAIA standing in the middle of the room, her hands nervously fidgeting with each other before her.  


“ _Did she learn that from me?_ ”  


“Go ahead, GAIA.”  


“Why are you simply making copies of all your data, rather than taking the original files?”  


Elisabet heaved a sigh, slowly beginning to pace forward into the room, her head lowered as she stared at the ground only a foot or two in front of her. Finally, after several long moments of silence, she shrugged, glancing back up at the projection.  


“I don’t know, just… something tells me I should.”  


“Query: are you going to do something similar with all files in this facility?”  


Something caused her to stop in place, her eyes glazed over as she stared past the image of GAIA, the lights of the room growing fuzzier and fuzzier as everything slid out of focus. Finally, she blinked several times and her vision returned to normal, bringing the curious expression of the AI’s projection into view.  


“I… don’t know. Why do you ask?”  


“If you viewed these files as possibly needing duplication, rather than simply transferring them, then I was curious if such a course of action may be wise with others.”  


“Like which ones, specifically?”  


“Logic would seem to dictate anything relating to the various subfunctions.”  


Elisabet chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment or two before nodding slowly.  


“May not be a bad idea…”  


She quickly pulled up her Focus interface and crafted a new message to all of the Alphas. Once she was finished, she quickly sent it off, closing the interface as she did.  


“Elisabet, may I speak out of protocol, once again?”  


She looked over at GAIA curiously before nodding.  


“Two days ago you began looking into research about genetics as they relate to parents and their offspring. Query: is there a reason for this?”  


She laughed softly, removing her hands from her jeans’ pockets and folding them over her chest, instead.  


“I thought we already talked about this?”  


“You mentioned wanting to explore all possibilities related to what Aloy has said in her recordings, yes, but you had some very specific questions.”  


A strange lump formed in her throat, which she quickly tried to swallow down. Once she felt able to speak, once again, she cleared her throat.  


“What are you getting at, GAIA?”  


“You were specifically researching the genetic similarities between them. You have seen something that is making you question this, most likely during one of your episodes in Aloy’s world.”  


“That’s still not entirely an answer…”  


“You have seen that the most common research indicated that parents share roughly 50% of genetic similarity with their offspring. Query: what has been your conclusion with this knowledge?”  


Elisabet’s eyes widened as she took a step or two back, fully turning to face the projection of GAIA, as well.  


“W-what is—my—?”  


The projection of GAIA simply stared back at her calmly, her hands folded in front of her.  


“W-well… I-I saw… something… w-where… Aloy and I… were both referenced in… i-in the same recording.”  


A curious expression came over GAIA’s face, but she still remained silent.  


“Like… the pictures of us were placed side by side and… holy shit she does look so much like me, it’s crazy.”  


“This visual distinction is not what prompted such a line of questioning, though.”  


Elisabet sighed, shaking her head.  


“No, there—there was something else.”  


The AI remained silent as Elisabet struggled with the ability to form simple words, it seemed.  


“There was a… diagram, showing a strand of DNA, and… a percentage. I don’t know where it came from, but… it was a really high percentage, GAIA.”  


“Query: what was the number?”  


“99.47 percent.”  


The image of GAIA actually looked surprised for a moment before confusion came over her features.  


“From all available resources, Elisabet, that would seem to indicate that Aloy would be—”  


“A clone, I know.”  


The image of GAIA slowly nodded, her hands fidgeting with each other, once again.  


“There’s… no way to somehow, like, gestate an egg in an actual person using only one set of DNA, right?”  


GAIA shook her head.  


“There is no such evidence to support the possibility without the offspring still being considered a clone, at least at the given time.”  


A shaky sigh escaped Elisabet’s lips as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to keep the tremors in them at least somewhat under control.  


“S-so… that means… she’s… actually… me?”  


“This is an area in which you may wish to consult your colleague, Patrick Brochard-Klein, as he is—”  


“The guy who wrote the standards on cloning and designed the Lightkeeper Protocol, yeah, I know.”  


Suddenly, she froze mid-motion, mouth slightly agape as a thought came over her.  


“The Lightkeeper Protocol…”  


“What was that, Elisabet?”  


“The Lightkeeper Protocol,” she said more firmly, looking over at the projection of GAIA, “that could explain who the hell Aloy is.”  


“Query: you believe she is a product of this initiative?”  


A shiver ran down Elisabet’s spine at the implications of calling a living, breathing person a “product,” but she quickly tried to shake it off.  


“Well, how the hell else would there be someone who looks exactly like me and shares 99.47 percent of my genetic makeup?”  


The image of GAIA did not seem entirely convinced by the idea, though, as she frowned.  


“There are a lot of other variables…”  


“But I’m so close to finding out some answers in Aloy’s world,” Elisabet interjected. “GAIA… I went to FAS and… I-I was in Ted’s office… _as_ Aloy.”  


The AI remained silent as she waited for her to go on.  


“My— _our_ —next objective after that is to head to… well, here… the Zero Dawn facility.”  


“Query: you know this facility exists, in the world of your episodes?”  


“At least, it did exist at one point. I… saw a recording of myself—like I stand here right now—in Ted’s office during that episode. It was the conversation where… where he told me about the glitch.”  


Silence fell over the room for several long moments before Elisabet took a deep breath.  


“If that place exists, and I was able to watch a conversation I actually _remember_ … then I’d say this place has to be there, as well.”  


The expression on the projection’s face was unreadable as Elisabet stood with her hands clenched into fists at her sides. Every inch of her, from head to toe, felt tense, yet she couldn’t seem to make herself relax, at least until she had heard the AI’s response.  


“Query: what do you hope to find if you explore the facility during one of your episodes?”  


The question was so simple and stated so softly by the AI that Elisabet was actually somewhat taken aback by it. Her hands relaxed at her sides as her shoulders fell slightly, a soreness instantly beginning to throb in them.  


“Some kind of answers, but I… don’t know which ones, yet.”  


Silence fell over them, once again, for a few moments before the projection of GAIA spoke.  


“This may present a scenario for you to test the theory that you are seeing the future of Earth, in these episodes.”  


Confusion creased Elisabet’s face as she folded her arms over her chest.  


“How so?”  


“If you find this facility, indeed, then if you leave a message of some kind now, it stands to reason you or Aloy would possibly be able to find it… assuming that it is truly the future from this present moment.”  


Elisabet stared back at the projection of GAIA in silence for several long moments before nodding slowly.  


“That’s… pretty ingenious, GAIA.”  


A small smile played across the projection’s lips as Elisabet tapped her fingers against her leg before spinning on the spot and moving over to her console.  


“Okay, time to… think of a message to stand the test of time… maybe…”  


Ten minutes and eight retries later, Elisabet sighed and hit the “save” button on the recording interface, falling into the chair at her desk.  


“Simple may be the most effective style of message for this scenario.”  


She glanced over at the image of GAIA, who had been gratefully silent the entire time.  


“Yeah?”  


“In actuality, simply leaving a message stating ‘This is a test’ would suffice, however—”  


“That’s a little too impersonal.”  


The projection simply nodded, a look of amusement appearing as she did.  


“Well… now that’s out of the way…” Elisabet sighed, spinning around in her chair to face the console screens at her desk. “How far along are we?”  


“Overall, the copy process is standing at 32% currently.”  


“Damn, this is taking forever.”  


“It is a lot of files, Dr. Sobeck…”  


“I know, just teasing,” she replied, smirking as she rose from her chair, once again, stretching her arms over her head with a groan. “I think I’m gonna check in on some of the other areas.”  


“Affirmative, I will monitor the progress here and alert you of any problems that may arise.”  


Elisabet exited her office, making her way to the elevator down to the level below, rubbing her eyes tiredly as the doors closed behind her.  


“Maybe drinking so much the night before we have to prep the whole place to evacuate wasn’t the brightest idea…”  


A strange sound caused her to lower her hands, blinking rapidly. Almost immediately, a chilly blast of air hit her and she audibly gasped, shivering and rubbing at her arms, only to find her a much different, much fuzzier, fabric than her sweatshirt beneath her fingers. Glancing down, she immediately noticed the unknown blue-and-white coat that seemed to be made of some kind of treated fur, prompting her to lift her head and survey her surroundings. She was in the woods somewhere, but the ground still bore a light dusting of snow. The sky was dark overhead, thousands of pricks of light from the stars replacing the bright sunlight from her previous episode.  


“ _How many hours have passed here? I guess nearly an entire day passed for me…_ ”  


Seeing nothing that immediately gave her an idea what was going on, she reached for the Focus affixed near her right ear and brought up the interface. The main goal in the “To Do” list hadn’t changed, so she dug into the journals section. Almost immediately, she found two new “Speaking Journals” and several written ones. The general gist she was able to discern from all of them was that Aloy was confused, but she didn’t give much away. With a frown, she navigated to the video journals and opened the older of the two.  


“Elisabet, what have you been withholding from me?”  


She recoiled slightly from the immediate accusation by the hologram of Aloy standing before her.  


“Your image at Maker’s End… you knew something was going on with the robots. You said they were going to kill everyone and everything… yet here I am. What did you do to stop them before? If this Hades is trying to do it all again… it’s going to destroy more than just me or… the people I care about.”  


The recording paused, placing her hands on her hips as she sighed heavily, her head hanging for a few moments before she began again, her tone much quieter and less accusatory.  


“How do I stop some kind of devil from destroying the world? I’m no ‘scientist’ like you… or anyone even all that important, but… I know this much, and I can’t just do nothing about it.”  


The recording of Aloy lifted her head, once again, staring straight into the eyes of Elisabet.  


“I need help… something… please.”  


After a few more moments of silence, the recording sighed, shuffling her feet across the ground.  


“You said to head to the Zero Dawn facility… the place I’ve been seeing as—seeing as you… If it provides some kind of answers… let’s do it. But, if this is truly the future from—from you… wasn’t the idea only to build GAIA and all of her helpers there? If you truly succeeded… shouldn’t the actual final version of them all be somewhere else? If not… well, I don’t think either of us wants to know what that means…”  


With a heavy sigh, the image of Aloy straightened up, reaching forward into the air before her.  


“Talk soon, Elisabet.”  


The recording froze as she ended it, the image’s hand held outstretched in the air before her. It took another minute or two for Elisabet to move, her heart still pounding in her ears. Even as she did, however, she moved as if in a trance. Aloy’s accusations aside, her ending point had sent her mind into overdrive: Zero Dawn in Bryce was only supposed to be the staging ground. GAIA Prime was the finished product. Should have been. Should be. She shook her head as the thoughts about which was right began to swirl about her mind.  


“ _She has a point. Now the question is: where the hell is it in this world?_ ”  


She waved the image of Aloy away, returning to the “Speaking Journals” menu, the other unopened message drawing her attention. After a moment’s hesitation, she tapped the file and a hologram of Aloy sitting on the ground came into existence, her legs pulled in close to her chest as her hand was just pulling back from interacting with the interface.  


“Hey, Elisabet,” she began softly, her voice sounding tired and small compared to the previous message. “I… I guess I wanted to ask you a question… ‘talk’ to you as we’ve had to do so far. How are you… able to be so… selfless?”  


Confusion creased Elisabet’s face as she slowly crouched down, bringing her more in line with the seated hologram.  


“I… the thing with Olin, plus… everything about Hades trying to kill me and now all of the stuff you’ve been saying about needing to get to Zero Dawn and how that’s tied into the robots killing everyone… this is suddenly feeling so much bigger than me, and… you were right when you left that message before. I acted like a child, then, and… I know I’m being selfish, and… how do you not be that way?  


“Everything I knew growing up was ‘you make your own life’ and now… I’ve got people pulling me into murder investigations, asking me to help with stopping world-ending plots by crazy people… I can’t just walk away from it all. I… Rost wouldn’t want me to.”  


The recording of Aloy paused for a long moment as she stared blankly ahead.  


“One of the last lessons he tried to teach me was that even if I didn’t need others, they might need me… and I didn’t realize how that felt until now.”  


The image shivered, rubbing her hands up and down her arms slightly.  


“We share some kind of connection, between the weird ‘switching places’ thing and the fact that we look so much alike… there has to be some reason, right? At least… maybe I can use it to ask for help… which, for the record, I’ve never been good at.”  


Elisabet found herself smiling as she shifted her position to a kneeling one as her knees began to protest from remaining crouched for so long.  


“I guess… yeah, that’s it for now. I’ve been heading toward Sunfall, like you said, but… well, I assume you watched the previous one, too. I guess… as weird as it is to say this… I’ll let you decide which one we go to. I trust that you know a bit more about this ‘saving the world’ business than I do.”  


With a slow nod and a sigh, the image of Aloy reached forward, once again.  


“Until next time… Aloy out.”  


The recording froze as Elisabet sighed, her eyes still focused on the purple-tinged image of Aloy seated on the ground, her arm not outstretched toward the interface wrapped tightly around her knees, keeping them tightly held against her. She looked so small in that position, compared to the strong, confident stance of the last video. Her voice hadn’t carried the same confidence, energy, or fire that she had heard in all of the other interactions. It hadn’t even been the same as the scared, overwhelmed recordings of her in Elisabet’s world when she had heard about the Swarm or how the world was dying. This was much more… hollow… defeated, almost.  


“ _Too young to sound like that… like me._ ”


	35. Advanced Timeline

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Real life stuff sucks. Happy daylight savings. Those two aren't related.
> 
> Once again thank you to everyone who's been reading and who has either left a kudos or a comment. Seriously, all of it means the world.

Elisabet closed the recording, quickly navigating to the map function of the Focus. She stared at the zoomed-out view for several long moments, her eyes lingering on the yellow indicator over where Sunfall and the Zero Dawn facility were located, still rather far away. The nagging thoughts in the back of her mind finally got the better of her, and she began to locate where she remembered GAIA Prime was supposed to be. She traced the map back to Maker’s End, remembering that FAS was in Salt Lake City. With Sunfall to the south, as Bryce would have been, she slowly scanned to the East. She didn’t have to look far before she noticed a rather large mountain rising from the topography. She hesitated, staring at it for a few moments before tapping on the spot. A message appeared, asking her if she would like to set this location as a destination.  


The waypoint changed from Sunfall to this new location, just above a marker that, when opened, indicated it appeared to be at the end of something called the “Bitter Climb.”  


“Sounds pleasant,” Elisabet muttered, zooming out on the map to take in the distance between herself and where she guessed GAIA Prime to be. “Not actually as far as it looked, at first…”  


After updating the “To Do’ list to indicate that they were to head to GAIA Prime, rather than Sunfall and Zero Dawn, she closed the interface. Checking the area around her and not finding any signs of a camp or gear unloaded on the ground, she went to head in the direction the Focus GPS indicated when something made her stop. She chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment or two before sighing and re-opening the interface.  


Within moments, she had the recording interface open and was tapping the “begin recording” button.  


“Hey, Aloy, it’s Elisabet. I saw the messages you left and they were… well, it was overall a lot, for very different reasons. I wish I knew exactly what it is that worked to bring the world you live in about, but… as you may have seen, I really don’t know what that is since… my world is quickly dying. I wish I could say that I knew the answer, but… Zero Dawn isn’t designed to be a ‘magic bullet’—uh—‘magic arrow’ to rid the world of the Swarm in one fell swoop. Where I am, too, it’s… maybe operational. It should be, but we just don’t know, yet. So, unfortunately, I would also like to know what kind of answer I have for how to stop some kind of mechanical devil that doesn’t involve large-scale death and destruction…”  


Elisabet paused, her throat closing up as she tried to force her vocal cords to work, again.  


“Same goes for being ‘selfless.’ I… don’t know exactly if I’m that. I can be pretty fucking selfish, too, but… my mother always taught me that the world can’t just always be about me. It took _years_ for that to truly hit home, and… as dumb as this sounds… you might just not be old enough to fully understand. I’ve… realized that I don’t actually know how old you are, exactly, but I know that you’re most definitely younger than I am. It’s something that… that takes time.”  


She fell silent for several long seconds before sighing and clapping her hands together before her.  


“Sorry for the non-answers, but… you asked hard questions that I don’t know if I’ve really sat down and considered. Hopefully both of us will find something soon, though.  


“For now, you’re right about the finished product idea: head to the location I marked on the map; that should be GAIA Prime, the location the final version of Zero Dawn is—was—set to be installed. If our worlds are linked, and this is the future from me, I hope to God there’s something to find there… which means that we succeed… at least somewhat. Also, there’s a good chance that you should be able to find that ‘Alpha Registry’ that you’ve been looking for there. So yeah… I think that just about does it for now. Elisabet out.”  


Once she had saved the new recording and checked her heading with the GPS waypoint, once again, she sighed and rolled her neck against the stiffness from the cold that had begun to set in.  


“Here we go… to finding whether I’m destined for greatness or death, I suppose.”

 

The long march through the woods was relatively easy, despite the frigid temperatures, as the dusting of snow did little to encumber her steps. She kept checking her Focus to track the passage of time, noting how she always seemed to do so after an hour had passed. Finally, the sky began to grow lighter, first fading to gray before dark streaks of indigo began to appear. Seemingly in time with the rising sun, the snow began to recede, leaving her with less and less trees, as well. By the time the flaming, orange orb had begun to rise over the horizon, the ground underfoot had given way from thick grass and woodland underbrush to sparse vegetation and largely open, sandy ground.  


As she came to the top of a hill, Elisabet paused, staring out at the darkened landscape below her, the sunlight having not fully made its way down the mountains and hills behind her to the lowlands, yet. A familiar song began playing in her head at the sight and she couldn’t help but smile, a low laugh escaping her lips.  


“ _I never could remember exactly what the words were, anyway._ ”  


By the time she had skidded to a normal walking speed at the base of the hill, the sun had reached her in full effect, bringing with it a welcome break from the chilly air temperature surrounding her. Within another hour or two of walking, the heavy coat that had felt so comforting in the cold and snow at FAS was beginning to feel a little stifling and she begrudgingly came to a stop, removing the pack from behind her and dropping it on the ground. A quick rummage through the duffel bag-like container produced the original top of leather and fur that she had worn so many times, as well as the brightly colored top the innkeeper had given her in Meridian. She glanced around at her rather sandy surroundings for a moment before shrugging and pulling the colorful blouse free from the bag.  


The change from the winter-coat like attire to her more flashy, yet lighter and much more breathable, clothing took longer than she wanted to admit, but once she was finally dressed, she shouldered the pack, letting out a heavy sigh.  


“Who’d have thought that clothing would become so complicated, once again?”  


As she checked her Focus impulsively, once again, the realization that it had been quite a long time since she had entered this particular episode hit her and she found her palms growing clammy with cold sweat.  


“ _Now is not the time that I’d want Aloy trying to fend for herself as me for so long… GAIA can only do so much while we’re also trying to set up everything to leave._ ”  


With a shuddering sigh, she set out in the direction of the waypoint, trying to push those concerns to the back of her mind, for the time being. The next time she checked her Focus, the sun was out in full force, beating down on her and already bringing a warm feeling to her face and her hair. She frowned when she realized how much time had passed, in total.  


“ _This is shaping up to be a new record… Is this repayment for always just fucking off and leaving Aloy to make the long walks while I sit by in my world?_ ”  


The thought sent a shiver down her spine and she shook her head quickly, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment.  


“ _You’re going to give yourself a brain aneurysm thinking like that, Lis._ ”  


“It’s a lot, I know.”  


The familiar voice caused her eyes to shoot open immediately, her brain trying to comprehend how the environment before her had changed so drastically, but she quickly realized where she was. Her head lifted as she scanned the room, discovering that she appeared to be in an office, but it wasn’t hers. Confusion began to crease her face when the voice came again.  


“Elisabet?”  


She spun around to find Samina standing almost directly in front of her, close enough that she was surprised she had missed the other woman on her first glance around the room.  


“W-what’s up?”  


“You—uh—you had an episode.”  


“I’m… I’m aware.”  


Samina just nodded slowly as Elisabet rubbed at her eyes, groaning as she did.  


“What time is it? What day is it?”  


“Still Friday the thirteenth, uh… thirteen hundred ten hours?”  


Elisabet looked confused as she rubbed her hands over the rough fabric of her old jeans.  


“It’s only been two hours?”  


“Since your episode started?”  


She nodded, folding her arms over her chest and trying to reconcile the vast difference in time between Aloy’s world and her own. Finally, she shook her head, letting her arms fall to her sides, once again.  


“Everything okay?”  


Samina looked concerned, but kept her distance.  


“Yeah, just… nevermind. How’s it going?”  


“Well, we’re wrapping everything up nicely in APOLLO. Despite the all-green tests, we’re still sorting out the last small pieces and bugs; code doesn’t always want to work the way it should, or at least how we expect. We don’t want to assume everything’s fine only to find out we missed something small and future learners miss out on all of the history of the South Pacific, you know?”  


Samina offered a small laugh, but Elisabet found herself unable to join in the amusement. Some alarm was going off in the back of her mind, preventing her from feeling anything other than uneasy.  


“Have you started transferring data to be transported?”  


Samina’s smile faltered as she shoved her hands in her back pockets.  


“Not quite, no. Why do you ask?”  


“Copy everything, don’t just transfer it, like I said in the message. If you can, get it on an external backup, as well.”  


The other woman looked slightly surprised by this request, confusion quickly following after.  


“Any reason why?”  


“Just… trust me, please.”  


Samina studied her for several long moments before nodding slowly.  


“Okay.”  


Silence fell over them for several long moments before Elisabet sighed, running her hands through her hair.  


“How are you feeling, physically, after last night?”  


Samina’s face finally cracked into a smile, once again, as she laughed quietly.  


“I’ve been worse, surprisingly.”  


Elisabet raised one eyebrow as the other woman gave her a coy grin.  


“Is there a secret ‘Samina the Teenage Party Girl’ story?”  


“Maybe when there’s a bit less work to do at GAIA Prime, I’ll indulge you in some of my personal history.”  


A strange tinge shot through Elisabet’s chest at Samina’s statement, but she grinned and tried to hide it as best she could.  


“Sounds interesting.”  


The two of them laughed quietly for a moment before the redhead sighed.  


“So… did I—uh—she do anything weird during my episode?”  


Samina shrugged.  


“Not particularly. She was pretty overwhelmed by all of the commotion and feeling pretty lost. There were a few questions about where all of the Zero Dawn stuff was going, and what the ultimate goal of the project was, but mainly she just had questions about you, actually.”  


The expression on Elisabet’s face was evidently drastic enough that Samina looked amused, once again.  


“Me? What about me, exactly?”  


“Just about… your character, I guess. She wanted to know about you as a person… something she couldn’t read about.”  


“So… what did you tell her?”  


“I… uh…”  


Samina shuffled her feet slightly, suddenly avoiding eye contact.  


“You… uh… may just want to ask GAIA if she has the recording.”  


“I mean… now I kinda just want to hear it from you.”  


The other woman tentatively made eye contact with her for a moment before letting out a shaky sigh.  


“I… uh… told her about how all of the things she may have read about you being a tough-as-nails scientist and not taking ‘no’ for an answer, ever, were… all because you believed in whatever it was you were going after so much that you couldn’t bear to see it fail. You expect the best from everyone, and it gets to you, personally, when people fall short. Take here, for example, you care so much about what we’re doing, but also for everyone involved in doing it. It… was a lot when you asked me to come in and help, but… I was honored that you’d ask me to be a part of something so monumental.”  


During Samina’s short speech, Elisabet had begun squirming, eventually shoving her hands in her pockets in an attempt to keep them steady. When she stopped, she tried to respond, but her vocal cords didn’t seem to want to respond. After several long moments of silence, she cleared her throat, looking down at the floor between the two of them.  


“Oh, so just casual stuff. I was expecting, like, my favorite color or something.”  


When she finally looked up at Samina, the two of them began laughing. For the first time in the entire conversation, the reaction seemed genuine from both sides. Finally, once they had brought their breathing under control and the laughter had died out, Samina cleared her throat, wiping at her eyes with the backs of her hands.  


“Out of curiosity, what is your favorite color?”  


Elisabet took on a look of mock astonishment, placing one hand over her chest and staggering back a step or two as Samina waited expectantly.  


“You don’t know my favorite color? And I thought we were friends…”  


Samina simply rolled her eyes as Elisabet dropped the look and grinned.  


“Green, I’d say.”  


Just then, a ringing sounded in her ear and her Focus interface opened to the call incoming screen. When her eyes saw the name, her blood ran cold and the look of amusement immediately fell from her face.  


“What’s wrong?”  


“General Herres is calling.”  


She reached toward the “accept” button with a shaking hand, finally pressing it a moment later.  


“Dr. Sobeck?”  


The sound of the general’s voice came through immediately, not even waiting for a greeting. Her heart rate only accelerated at the slight panicked undertone to his voice, but she forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat and respond.  


“Yes, General?”  


“I have some bad news. The East Coast salient is gone. The Swarm is moving in on Wichita. Doctor… I’m afraid this may be it.”  


Elisabet physically staggered, Samina quickly stepping forward and gripping her shoulders to support her.  


“Y-you’re… you’re serious…”  


“I am. I sure as hell don’t want to be, but I am. I’m advising all support for the Zero Dawn facility to begin evacuation in twenty-four hours. Within thirty-six, all of you should be out of there.”  


“We’re wrapping everything up for transfer to GAIA Prime.”  


“Good. I won’t keep you any longer. Godspeed, Doctor Sobeck.”  


“Same to you, General.”  


With that, the call disconnected and her interface closed, leaving her alone with Samina, once again, who still had a tight grip on her. Elisabet was thankful for the support, though, since her knees felt too weak to support herself.  


“What’s the news?” Samina asked while guiding Elisabet to the chair behind her desk.  


When she tried to offer the seat, the redhead refused, shaking her head and forcing herself to stand up straight, although the other woman still kept a hand tentatively on one arm.  


“We have thirty-six hours.”  


“Until what?”  


“Until we need to be in GAIA Prime.”  


Samina’s eyes widened as her hand slowly slid off Elisabet’s arm.  


“The East Coast is gone, and the Swarm is moving in on Wichita. They don’t have any more time they can buy us. Finish what you can, and get to copying it like I asked. Herres said the transports to evacuate the facility should be here in twenty-four hours. We’ll start with the Gammas, get them away, then the Betas—”  


“Then us.”  


Elisabet stared back at Samina in silence as she slowly nodded. Neither woman said anything for several long seconds before Samina broke it with a heavy, shuddering sigh.  


“I’ll tell my team. You probably want to send out the bulletin immediately.”  


“This is Defcon One, Samina… I’m putting it on the facility-wide alert. I don’t want to leave all this to the team leaders. I—I’ll be the one who has to deliver the news. Just… be ready for the bedlam that follows.”  


Samina looked like she wanted to say something for a moment or two before she simply nodded, her lips pulling into a thin line.  


“Well, I guess you’ll get to hear my stories sooner than I thought.”  


As Samina left to speak with her team, Elisabet opened her Focus interface, bringing up the call application, once again.  


“GAIA?”  


“Yes, Elisabet?”  


“Can you patch me into the facility’s warning system?”  


“You wish to speak directly to each member?”  


“That’s what it was designed for.”  


“One moment.”  


Several long seconds ticked by before the call screen on her interface updated to show that a new call was now active.  


“You are now connected via the facility’s warning system to every person present.”  


Elisabet cleared her throat and straightened her posture despite the call not including any visual component.  


“Attention, everyone, it’s Doctor Sobeck. I’ve just received a call from General Herres about the efforts of Operation Enduring Victory…”  


She paused for a long moment, inhaling slowly through her nose in an attempt to compose herself.  


“The East Coast front has fallen, and the Swarm is closing in on Wichita. Transports to begin evacuation will be arriving within twenty four hours. That means everything needs to be as done as we can get it and transport-ready by then. Evacuation will begin with the Gammas, then the Betas, and finally the Alphas. This is no drill… this is it. Elisabet Sobeck out.”  


As soon as she closed the interface, she let out a heavy sigh, running her hands over her face.  


“ _This is it… I’ve said that so many times the past several weeks, but… now… for real…_ ”  


Almost immediately, her Focus lit up with an incoming call, prompting her to jump in surprise. She glanced up to see who it was to find the last name she had actually expected to see. Instinctually, her hands began to clench into fists as images of a ruined and snow-covered conference room flashed before her eyes.  


“What is it now, Ted? I’m kind of busy.”  


“It’s all over the news, Lis!”  


The image of Ted that appeared before her was incredibly distraught, seemingly every part of him unable to stand still. With a bit of smug satisfaction, she noted his unshaven face and disheveled hair, both in stark contrast to his usually very put-together appearance.  


“What is?”  


“The end of the fucking world!”  


“We’ve known—”  


“No, you know what I mean. I’m willing to bet Herres called you, already. The East Coast, Lis… the goddamn East Coast…”  


“What’s your point, Ted? As you should know, that means we have a lot of work to do.”  


“I just… Did you do it? Is Zero Dawn ready?”  


“I don’t see why that’s necessarily any of your business.”  


“I’ve been paying for it, Lis…”  


“So, what? It’s your project now?”  


“No, I… I just…”  


Ted let out a growl of frustration, running one hand through his hair as he began to pace back and forth.  


“You’re feeling guilty.”  


Ted stopped pacing for a moment, hanging his head as he let out a low laugh.  


“You always know how to cut me at my lowest.”  


“Ted, I don’t have time for this schoolyard bullshit, right now.”  


“I am feeling guilty, Lis, okay?” he snapped, facing her, once again. “My creations are coming this way, and they want me and everyone else dead. That’s enough to fuck with a man.”  


Elisabet sighed, folding her arms over her chest. If it had been almost anyone else on the planet, she’d feel half-sorry for them, but something about hearing those words come from the mouth of Ted Faro… Finally, she looked back up at his image, who appeared to be waiting for some kind of answer from her.  


“I don’t know what you’re looking for, Ted,” she finally said. “I can’t tell you anything will be all right. You already saw the news. You know what Zero Dawn is designed to do—”  


“I know, I know, and…” he interrupted, but quickly he seemed to lose track of what he was going to say. “I just… wanted to hear you say it worked.”  


His disarmingly honest statement actually took her by surprise, prompting Elisabet’s eyebrows to raise as she shifted her stance. He noticed her reaction and let out a low chuckle.  


“Shocking, I know.”  


After several more seconds of silence, she finally spoke.  


“Signs seem to be good.”  


He glanced over at her, once again, an unreadable expression on his face.  


“That doesn’t entirely sound like a ‘yes.’”  


“I can’t give an absolute, Ted.”  


“But… you’ve done tests?”  


“You forget that I also ran my own advanced AI and robotics design company?”  


“I know, I know, of course you did tests. They looked promising?”  


“They did.”  


A long silence fell over them, once again, before he sighed, giving Elisabet a small smile.  


“Well, if you’re convinced, then I guess so am I.”  


Elisabet wasn’t sure how to respond, so she simply remained silent, fidgeting with the sleeve of her sweatshirt for several moments before letting out a heavy sigh and looking up at the call image, once again.  


“You should get to shelter, Ted.”  


He nodded slowly, seemingly staring through her as his eyes appeared glassed over.  


“I’ve got a VTOL on the way.”  


“Good. I’ve got to get back to work…”  


“Don’t let me keep you.”  


They stared at each other for a few moments longer before they both nodded and Elisabet sighed.  


“Goodbye, Ted.”  


“Bye… Lis.”


	36. A Sinking Ship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday, once again. Things are really getting down to the wire in this story. Trust me when I say: I wasn't ready for the next several chapters.
> 
> With that in mind, here we go.

As soon as the call ended, Elisabet felt a pressure pushing at her temples and she staggered slightly, raising her hands to press against the sides of her head. The edges of her vision began to grow dark, but quickly returned to normal as the pain receded. She didn’t need another wave of pain to know what was likely in store, but she couldn’t decide if it would be better to try to book it back to her office or just hope for the best in Samina’s. A moment later, she didn’t have a choice as the pain returned, along with a feeling of dizziness and nausea. Her stomach heaved as she suddenly felt very lightheaded. As her feet began to trip over themselves, she found herself falling toward the ground. A moment later, it slammed into her, forcing a grunt of pain past her lips.  


The throbbing pain from the impact hit her first, causing her to grit her teeth against it, but another, much more jarring, feeling began to appear all along her side and she blinked rapidly. At first, all she could see was white, but a moment later she realized that she hadn’t simply gone blind in one of the strangest ways she’d heard of, but was instead staring at something in the natural scenery. She quickly scrambled into a kneeling position, feeling the clumps of snow fall off her, although her right hand still remained buried in the several-inch deep drift she appeared to have fallen into.  


“ _Either she immediately turned around and ran back the way I walked…_ ”  


She didn’t even finish her thought as she scrambled to her feet, scanning the environment around her. Wherever she was standing was definitely still in the outdoors, although the wind had picked up considerably, while the temperature had dropped a good thirty degrees or so. Small, razor-sharp flakes of snow blew into her face, prompting her to squint her eyes against the assault. Nothing about the location screamed “large man-made structure,” so she activated her Focus and began to scan for the waypoint she had set before.  


As she turned to face into the vague brightness that seemed to be the sun trying to shine through the snowstorm, she found the GPS marker almost right in front of her, the number below it in the single digits.  


“Seems like I should be right on top of it…”  


With a frown, she began to trudge through the snow, raising one arm against the wind blowing directly into her. Thankfully, Aloy seemed to have changed back into the warm coat she had been wearing back at FAS, although that still left an unknown amount of time between when Elisabet had last been in this world and now.  


“ _Long enough to walk all the way here and traverse the ‘Bitter Climb,’ it seems…_ ”  


After she had gone about twenty yards, she found that the terrain seemed to be rising higher, while more large rocks lay scattered about. She opened her Focus interface, once again, only to find that the waypoint marker said her destination should have been right in front of her.  


“What? There’s nothing h—”  


She was cut off as she came to a short stop, gripping the wooden fencepost before her for dear life as she stared over the edge of a sheer dropoff into what seemed to be a bottomless pit. Her heart leapt into her throat as she quickly shuffled backward several steps, her chest heaving in panic. She lifted her head, quickly scanning around the space before her, trying to see how she could have missed the massive hole in the ground, yet the blizzard still seemed to be going strong, obscuring her vision of anything more than a few yards away. With a quick tap to her Focus, she found that it seemed to be indicating that she had reached her destination.  


“Maybe I was a bit off, it’s not like I had a real map to—”  


Her voice suddenly caught in her throat as the wind around her let up for a moment, allowing the snow flurries to clear away. The sunlight burned through the flakes, revealing that there was more than simply a large hole in the ground before her. Stretching over the center of the gaping chasm was what appeared to be some kind of metal structure, broken in half in the center and hanging at precarious angles from the rock walls on either side. Farther into the cavern appeared to stand the remnants of some kind of metal structure, although it was hard to make out exactly what it was from this distance.  


Despite the grand scale of the locale, it shouldn’t have been quite so significant, but the realization of exactly what she was looking at hit Elisabet immediately.  


At first, she had missed the wires hanging from the walls, as well as the jagged, torn chunks of metal that seemed to jut from the mountain, itself. Her breathing came even quicker as she carefully stepped forward, once again, taking care not to wander too close to the rudimentary fence she had almost tripped over moments ago.  


“This… this is it…”  


The wind began to die down even more, letting the snow settle and revealing more of the apocalyptic scene before her. It didn’t take knowledge of what the location had once looked like to understand that it was now in ruins.  


“GAIA Prime…”  


A choked sob escaped Elisabet as she fell to her knees, the pain from hitting the rocky ground barely registering as she felt hot tears forming at the corners of her eyes.  


"It’s… gone.”  


Her head hung forward for a moment before she suddenly lashed out at thin air, nearly throwing herself to the ground in the process. The echoes of the cry of rage that had roared from her echoed for several long seconds after, slowly fading and giving way to the whistling wind across the rocks, once again. Her chest heaved with her ragged, gasping breaths for several long moments before a thought crossed her mind.  


“All of this—this world—exists, though… Everything is alive and… it looks like GAIA succeeded. Unless… this is all some kind of, alternate reality, or…”  


She shook her head, gritting her teeth as her hands clenched into fists at her sides.  


“No, there’s got to be more to this. Gotta find out what happened.”  


With renewed vigor, she rose to her feet, her eyes quickly latching onto the fence posts before her and following them off to the left. Eventually, the simple construction of wood and wire led to a sheer cliff face, although primitive wooden scaffolding had been erected against it at some point. She set off toward the construction, her boots occasionally slipping across the slippery surface of the rocks and giving her small heart attacks each time. Finally, she reached the scaffolding and craned her neck to look toward the top; there was no clear sign of exactly where all of the ladders and platforms ended, but she figured it had to be somewhere important or useful.  


Turning back to the rock wall in front of her, however, she found that the only way up from her level were some wooden hand and footholds that had been drilled into place. With a shaky, nervous breath, she stepped forward and grabbed hold of the first one above her head. It had been years since she had attempted to do anything like rock climbing, but like with the fighting she had experienced before, her muscle memory seemed to take over and she found herself quickly scaling the cliff face. Within only a minute or two, she was pulling herself over the ledge at the very top, finally taking a moment to glance behind her and notice how far she had just climbed.  


“ _Good thing I’m_ totally _not afraid of heights… a bit…_ ”  


She brushed her hands off on her skirt as she turned around, examining where the climb had deposited her. The room appeared to have once been part of a facility much like the one at Zero Dawn that she was used to, but it had since been converted into a makeshift workshop, tables with machine parts scattered about the room. A single door stood shut at the far end, some kind of large weapon-like device suspended from a harness very similar to one she remembered using to pull motors out of old cars with her mother standing before it. As she approached the door, several large, dark scorch marks became apparent on its surface.  


“Someone wanted in here, badly…”  


She ran her hand over the top of the large mechanism suspended beside her before carefully moving up to the door. Almost immediately, a red light appeared over the door, expanding into a red laser-like field that shot toward her feet. Her eyebrows raised as the identiscan system swept over her.  


“Genetic identity confirmed. Entry authorized.”  


The doors slid open, allowing a small gust of cold air to escape and blowing the mane of braids behind her slightly.  


“Greetings, Dr. Sobeck. You are cleared to proceed.”  


Her eyes widened as she remained rooted to the spot, staring blankly up at the scanner above the door.  


“ _It just—it called me…_ ”  


“Looks like… I might be right…”  


Elisabet found herself self-consciously glancing down at herself, almost as if to make sure she was still Aloy, and not her normal self. She found the heavy, blue coat and fur-lined skirt over leather leggings and tanned animal hide boots, rather than her sweatshirt, jeans, and old, beaten-up sneakers.  


“Okay, so… young clone me, I guess… totally normal.”  


With a shiver, she strode through the door, entering the ruined building beyond. Immediately, a strange feeling of déjà vu washed over her, the hallway feeling simultaneously familiar and entirely alien. Her path took her to an empty elevator shaft, which she took a deep breath before beginning a careful descent, grabbing onto metal bars that jutted from the walls, clearly once having been service ladders. Similar to her climb up the rock face outside, she found her muscle memory taking over, guiding her on a quick and smooth descent to the bottom of the shaft, where she landed with a quiet grunt, rubbing her hands together against the cold that had begun to burn from gripping the freezing metal.  


“Thank god she’s a lot better at this shit than I am…”  


With a heavy sigh, she ventured farther into the structure. The twisting, mostly collapsed hallways provided little help in navigating them, but eventually she found herself approaching a rather large opening, beams of sunlight streaming in through it. She raised one hand against the harsh light as she stepped from within the darkened interior. Once her eyes had a chance to adjust, she blinked several times, slowly lowering her hand. To her surprise, instead of finding the ruins of a facility buried in a mountain, she was confronted with the image of several people standing before her, expectant looks on their faces.  


“Dr. Sobeck?”  


She blinked several more times, clearing her throat as she did and desperately scrambling for something to say.  


“Sorry, just… must be a migraine coming on,” she muttered.  


The group before her didn’t look entirely convinced, but said nothing.  


“So… the external drives… where do you want them?”  


“External drives…?”  


The doubtful looks began to turn to ones of concern as she quickly scrambled to recover.  


“The external drives, uh… we’ve still got that container that had all the booze and shit, right?”  


They continued to look at her apprehensively for several long moments before one of them nodded.  


“Yeah, should still be in the atrium.”  


“Use that. It should have enough space, and if it was good enough to protect all those bottles, it should prevent some external drives from getting too banged up.”  


The group exchanged strange glances for a moment before nodding and turning to head off on their task. Once they had moved several feet away, Elisabet let out a heavy sigh of relief, rubbing her eyes tiredly.  


“ _Who’d have thought this would be more nerve-wracking than climbing through a destroyed building?_ ”  


“GAIA, what’s the status report?”  


“All sections are working to secure any final touches to coding before copying the files, as you requested.”  


“What about the people?”  


“Query: what about them?”  


“Are they packing to leave?”  


“I do not believe anyone has started; they have prioritized finishing the project over their own effects.”  


Elisabet simply nodded, glancing around at the scene of chaos before her. Bodies rushed about the open area of the facility, occasionally bumping into each other, but not stopping to offer apologies, except for when someone dropped whatever they had been carrying. Her mind superimposed the image of flashing red lights on all the walls, like some “red alert” in a sci-fi serial, but they didn’t need the actual visual cues for the sense of urgency to be known.  


Suddenly, a ringing in her ear snapped her out of her reverie and she glanced at who was calling. Seeing General Herres name on her interface, she quickly pressed the “accept” button, starting the counter from 0:00 as muffled, distorted sounds of motion sounded in her ear.  


“General.”  


“Dr. Sobeck, I’m tasking three VTOLs to your location as we speak. Forget what I said about twenty four hours. Get non-essential personnel on them as soon as possible.”  


“Is Wichita—?”  


“Not yet, but… better safe than sorry.”  


“Understood.”  


“Current ETA is thirty-five minutes.”  


“Got it.”  


“Herres out.”  


As soon as the call ended, Elisabet brought up the connection to the facility-wide alert system, once again.  


“Attention, I need forty-five people at Gamma rank to have their effects ready and at the landing pad topside in thirty minutes. Elysium-bound VTOLs are en route. Everyone above this clearance, keep at it. We’ve got less time than we thought.”  


With that, she closed the interface and strode quickly across the main area of the facility. As she entered the elevator to bring her up to the second floor, she glanced down at her hands, noting how violently her fingers were shaking. She clenched them into tight fists just before the doors opened, causing her head to whip up. Finding no one waiting on the other side, she hurried into the hallway, breaking into a jog until she reached the door to her lab and office. The doors slid open with a swipe of her hand over the lock in the middle of them and she quickly slipped between them before they were even fully open. She finally came to a stop in the middle of her workshop, turning in place as she took in all of the equipment around her, chewing impulsively at the inside of her cheek.  


“ _What needs to get out of here?_ ”  


A moment later, the projection of GAIA materialized in the center of the workshop, a worried expression on her face.  


“Elisabet, sensors do not indicate any signs of the Swarm near this facility—”  


“Doesn’t matter. If they did, it’d already be too late.”  


The look of unease didn’t disappear from the AI’s face, but Elisabet forced herself to ignore it.  


“How far along in the data copy are we?”  


“Systems indicate eighty-five percent completion.”  


“Shit, that’s not as close as I wanted to be…”  


Elisabet placed her hands behind her head, beginning to pace about the room.  


“I do not believe there is a way to speed up the process…”  


“I now, GAIA,” she sighed, closing her eyes for a moment as she came to a stop. “Just… I feel like we’re _this_ close, and now…”  


With a heavy sigh, she opened her eyes, once again, letting her arms fall to her sides.  


“What if we fail? What if we get to GAIA Prime and the Swarm is waiting for us? What if they blow the whole fucking place up?”  


“Elisabet—”  


“What if this is all a fever dream? What if I’m still just in grad school or working at FAS and I just got really fucking drunk one night and can’t wake up from a goddamn nightmare?!”  


“Elisabet—”  


“What if I really am crazy and everything I’ve been experiencing the last week or two with ‘Aloy’ and this ideal world is just me fully losing it because I can’t come to reality with—?!”  


“Elisabet, stop!”  


The severe tone and sudden jump in volume of GAIA’s voice was finally enough to cause Elisabet to freeze in place, mouth hung open as her words were caught in her throat, mid-thought.  


“Wild conjecture will solve nothing, at this point,” the AI began, her tone much calmer, once again. “Do not doubt yourself, your team, or this project so greatly. There is a limited time frame, but I know you too well. You will find a way. I trust you.”  


Elisabet’s mouth closed for a moment as she swallowed nervously, staring back at the image of GAIA several feet away.  


“You… t-trust me?”  


“I do.”  


“You… do you mean that statistically—?”  


“I have taken projections into account, but I have processed my conclusions through what I have learned of emotional responses and… this is a personal belief.”  


Elisabet remained silent, staring back at the slightly shimmering image of the woman in the flowing, green dress who now looked to her with an expression of… something like adoration, perhaps.  


“And from what I have seen, beliefs do not have to be supported by irrefutable evidence.”  


Elisabet felt a warm feeling spreading in her chest as her feet instinctually carried her closer to the projection. Once she was standing directly before her, she came to a stop, one hand slowly reaching up toward her. As her fingers brushed the edge of the projection’s face, the image shimmered and distorted slightly, her fingers sliding through thin air. The projection offered a sad smile, reaching one hand toward Elisabet’s and holding it over hers. There was no actual feeling of contact between them, but for a moment she could have sworn she felt the skin on the back of her hand tingle, like a static charge passing over it.  


Just then, an electronic chime sounded and Elisabet quickly stepped back, dropping her hand to her side as she whirled to face the doors beside her. Charles and Patrick Brochard-Klein stepped through them, both looking rather distressed.  


“What happened?” Elisabet demanded.  


“Nothing except bloody fucking panic,” Charles said, gesturing in the vague direction of the main area of the facility. “People are dropping things left and right to make sure they’re on the first VTOLs out of here.”  


“The Gammas?”  


“Gammas, Betas…”  


“Hold on, people are trying to jump ship?”  


“It is a sinking one, Elisabet,” Brochard-Klein chimed in.  


“That doesn’t excuse—”  


“We’re not the military, and these aren’t soldiers,” Charles broke in. “What do you expect them to do?”  


Her teeth ground together for several moments as her mind raced with how to deal with the current scenario. She had never been in the military, nor had she even really held a position of leadership in a scenario that involved keeping a group of people calm and contained, not even something like a camp counselor. One of the first images that popped into her head was that of an old war film she had seen when she was younger, depicting the Russian forces during World War II. Images of officers brandishing pistols at their own men who threatened desertion or retreat flashed before her eyes, but she quickly shook her head, trying to chase them away.  


“ _You’re not about to start shooting anyone… especially not without any weapons._ ”  


“Let them go.”  


The two men remained silent, staring at her either in stunned or silence or resignation, she couldn’t tell.  


“Like you said, what can we expect of them? We’re all scared. Let them get to their families.”  


They simply nodded and Charles turned to leave, but Brochard-Klein lingered for a moment, the look on his face betraying that he had something on his mind.  


“We’re not abandoning, Dr. Sobeck.”  


She raised her eyebrows slightly as Charles stopped in his tracks, turning to look back at the other man with a confused expression.  


“We—the Alphas—we’re here to the end.”  


No words came to her, so she simply nodded, folding her arms over her chest. Once the silence had stretched on for several long, uncomfortable seconds, he cleared his throat.  


“We’ll get back to work. My section should be done wrapping and start transferring any minute, now.”  


“Did you get my message?”  


A look of confusion came over his face and Elisabet swore under her breath.  


“Copy everything to an external drive, as well, not just a straight file transfer.”  


Both men looked confused, Charles actually stepping back toward her.  


“Why?”  


“Just… trust me. Make a physical failsafe.”  


The two men exchanged glances, but slowly nodded.  


“Okay, I’ll make sure the others know, too. I thought I sent a message, but… guess not.”  


Terse nods came from all around before the two men quickly exited the workshop, disappearing from sight as they turned left and strode quickly back toward the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, Elisabet’s shoulders slumped and she rubbed her eyes tiredly.  


“I was never cut out to be a leader like this.”  


“I believe you have handled the role admirably, so far.”  


With a grin, she glanced over at the projection of GAIA.  


“You’re just saying that to be nice.”  


“I am simply stating what I see to be a fact.”  


“A fact or another one of your beliefs?”  


“While it may be a belief,” the AI replied, a coy smirk pulling at her lips, “this one is founded in a significant amount of concrete evidence.”  


“Stop, you’re making me blush.”  


The AI regarded her with an amused expression as Elisabet sighed and began to head toward her office.  


“Okay, guess it’s time to start packing, for real.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for teasing with GAIA Prime and leaving it hanging in this chapter, but don't you worry: it's coming. See you next week.


	37. Omega Clearance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, everyone knew this was coming. These next few chapters honestly got to me while writing them. I don't know if I've had quite as strong of an emotional response like that while writing something of my own before.
> 
> I'll stop talking, now. See you at the end.

Thirty minutes later, she was standing in her quarters, staring down at her pile of clothes next to the container they had arrived in, a great deal having never even been taken out, in the first place. With a heavy sigh, she scooped the worn, dirty clothes off the floor and unceremoniously dropped them in the container. A quick glance around the room told her that she hadn’t really made an effort to make the place feel “homey,” although one personal effect seemed to have found its way out of the box. With a frown, she moved over to the bed, grabbing the small, black picture frame and holding it before her. Immediately, she felt a tight feeling appear in her chest and her lower lip began to tremble.  


“ _Come on, you’re a grown woman, goddammit._ ”  


A moment later, she took a seat on the edge of her bed, staring down at the photo as tears ran down her cheeks, her thumbs running over the glass of the picture frame. The image of her mom and her just after she had graduated from grad school, the tassel of her cap hanging in her face while she was permanently captured mid-attempt to blow it out of the way with her eyes crossed and focused on the small, golden bauble with her graduation year attached to it, felt like it weighed a thousand tons in her hands. Her thumb slowly ran over the image of her mother on the left-hand side, her eyes shining and her mouth partially open mid-laugh forever preserving her in the way Elisabet always wanted to remember.  


“Elisabet…”  


The sudden voice caused her to jump, whipping around to see who had entered, but the door remained closed. Confusion crossed her face for a moment before she realized who it must have been.  


“I’m okay, GAIA.”  


“I do not believe you are physically harmed, but…”  


The voice of the AI trailed off as Elisabet found a small smile pulling at her lips, only for it to be interrupted a moment later by a choked sob that forced its way out of her.  


“You show great love and admiration for your mother.”  


“She was… is the best person I’ve ever known. Everything I ever wanted to be, as a human being, she… she showed me.”  


Her eyes focused on the photo once again as her fingers began to tremble around it.  


“We didn’t always see eye to eye, but she taught me how to behave in those situations. I just… I wish…”  


She sniveled pitifully, wiping at her nose with the back of one hand before grasping the picture frame, once again.  


“I just want to tell her I love her… one more time. I… feel like I didn’t get to before… before…”  


Elisabet trailed off as her tongue seemed to grow thick, preventing her from actually finishing her thought, the words refusing to leave her throat.  


“It was an accident, Elisabet.”  


“It was no fucking _accident_ ,” she snapped, her tone suddenly much harsher, prompting her to close her eyes tightly, taking a deep breath in through her nose. “An accident implies that both people were behaving normally and some—freak act of god—caused something to go wrong.”  


Several tense moments of silence followed before Elisabet heaved a heavy sigh, turning her head and attempting to wipe her eyes on her shoulders.  


“Some asshole _decided_ to drive drunk. He may not have specifically been after her, but his _decision_ to do that _decided_ that my mom was going to die… and he didn’t.”  


Elisabet suddenly stood up, bringing the picture frame to the crate full of her clothes and carefully wrapping it in a T-shirt before placing it inside the metal box.  


“You speak so fondly of her. I wish that I could have met her.”  


A short laugh escaped Elisabet as she closed the top on the container, twisting the lock mechanism on the top to the sound of an electronic beep confirming it was secure.  


“I wish I could show her you, too. She would have… well, quite frankly she wouldn’t have understood why exactly, but… she would have been proud.”  


“I’m sure she was proud of you long ago.”  


“So she always said,” she sighed, rising to a standing position, “except for that time I got thrown in the drunk tank for punching out some dude at a dive bar.”  


“This… was not a story I was aware of.”  


A smirk tugged at Elisabet’s lips.  


“I’ll tell you the sordid details later, then. We’ve got work to finish up now, GAIA.”  


“I look forward to it.”  


She laughed softly as she stretched her back.  


“Also, if I… have an episode, soon… please guide Aloy discreetly. Now is not the time for missteps because she doesn’t know what’s happening.”  


“Affirmative. I will aid her to the best of my abilities.”  


“I trust your judgement.”  


“Is this in response to my earlier statement?”  


“Trust goes two ways, GAIA.”  


As soon as she exited her quarters, carrying the container of her belongings, her Focus lit up with an incoming call and leaned her head to the side to tap her shoulder against the device to activate the call.  


“Dr. Sobeck, this is Heavy Mover One, we are on final approach now.”  


“Understood, we will have passengers ready. Be ready, though, there has been a bit of a panic, here.”  


“Understood, ma’am, we were expecting something of the sort.”  


A strange feeling came over her and she stopped in her tracks.  


“What does that mean?”  


“I’ve flown sorties into natural disasters, ma’am, I know how people in a bad situation can be.”  


She tried to push the feeling away, telling herself to take his statement at surface value, and to stop picturing a group of soldiers turning their guns on the members of Zero Dawn as they tried to escape to Elysium.  


“Touchdown in t-minus two minutes. Goddamn, still don’t have a visual on the Orbital Launch base.”  


“Dust storm?”  


“The world is one big fucking dust bowl, right now.”  


Elisabet’s lips pulled into a thin line as she shifted her grip on the container in her arms.  


“We’ll be ready when you land.”  


“See you soon.”  


With that, the call ended and her Focus interface closed. She remembered her brief foray outside after Aloy had donned the HEV suit in one of her more recent episodes. The world’s condition wasn’t getting any better, and she was just going to have to accept that.  


“ _My world, at least…_ ”  


With a shiver, she took a corner in the hallway and nearly ran into someone else, causing her to jump and nearly drop the metal box in her grasp. The other person let out a cry of surprise and hopped backwards, as well. It took a moment for Elisabet’s brain to register Samina standing before her, although something seemed different. It took her longer than she expected to realize it was simply that she was not wearing her trademark light blue headscarf, for once. The thought that she had never actually seen her without it came to mind, but she quickly shook her head, adjusting her grip on the container and focusing on what Samina had started to say.  


“…apologies, Elisabet, I didn’t hear anyone coming.”  


“It’s okay.”  


Samina opened her mouth to say something else, but only ended up sighing as her shoulders slumped forward.  


“Have you seen what it’s like at the elevator to the landing pad?”  


Elisabet shook her head.  


“It’s like one of Travis’s zombie films: just a horde of people all clambering to be the first on the VTOL when it lands.”  


She sighed, hanging her head slightly for a moment before looking back up at the other woman.  


“I don’t know what we expected, really.”  


After a few moments of silence, Elisabet carefully set the metal box in her arms down, shaking them out slightly as she rose to a standing position, once again.  


“I don’t think it really started to hit me until… until now,” Samina said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Seeing the looks of panic in all those people’s eyes…”  


Elisabet felt a twinge in her chest and she frowned slightly, forcing herself to hold back the hot tears that threatened to leak from the corners of her eyes. Before she even knew what she was doing, she found herself stepping forward, pulling the other woman into an embrace. Samina quickly returned the gesture, wrapping her arms around the redhead with ease. They remained still for several moments before Elisabet began to feel a pressure in her temples and the rising feeling of vertigo in her stomach.  


“ _No, not now._ ”  


She clenched her jaw, pushing back against the feelings as she felt Samina shift her grip slightly, pulling her in a little tighter, even. The headache-like sensation faded for the moment, but Elisabet kept her guard up, not willing to totally relax and assume it was gone.  


“ _Your world is going to have to wait a minute, Aloy…_ ”  


Several long moments later, the two women released each other from the embrace, Samina quickly wiping at her eyes.  


“I apologize, Elisabet, it just—”  


“There’s no need to apologize. Not today. Not ever.”  


Samina offered a small smile in return, still wiping at one eye with her right hand.  


“I should—um—get my things packed, too,” she finally said, gesturing to the metal box near Elisabet’s feet.  


“Yeah… we have a little more time than the others, but… not a lot.”  


With that, Samina gave a small nod and set off down the hallway toward her quarters. Elisabet watched her go for a ways before sighing and turning back to her metal crate on the ground. As soon as she focused on it, however, she blinked and it was immediately replaced with that of another box, but this one appeared to be half-buried in snow and seemed to have weathered significantly more time outside of a controlled facility. She recoiled slightly in surprise, but knew what she would see as she lifted her head to look around the room.  


Other than the ruined nature of the room, there was nothing else significant, however, so she turned around and made her way back into the hallway outside. To her right appeared to be the gaping cavern she had been traversing earlier, while to her left stood a door, complete with the superimposed image of the locking mechanism, still set to a locked position.  


“Still? If this is the future…”  


Elisabet glanced back toward the opening to the cavern once more before turning to her left and continuing toward the door. As she came to a stop in front of it, she tentatively reached out, position her hand over the lock. With one last deep breath, she twisted it, turning the light on the display green with an electronic chime. The door slid open to a rush of air, causing her to stagger slightly, but what drew her attention was the direction it had come from: behind her. She quickly glanced over her shoulder, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary; there was always the chance it had been a rogue gust of wind, but it had been too coincidental and too…  


Elisabet turned to face the room beyond the door, once again, a shiver running down her spine as she did. The space was dark, but as her eyes adjusted and lights began to turn on, the scene began to grow clear. The first thing that drew her attention was the fact that there were actually lights in this room, proving that there was at least some power still left in the facility. She was not left with much time to wonder and marvel over this, however, as her eyes quickly fell on what lay on the floor only a few feet ahead of her.  


Her eyes widened as her chest began to heave. The body lying on the floor had clearly been there for decades. The flesh had almost entirely emaciated, drawing close to the skeleton in a fashion she had never seen in person outside of the special effects in a horror movie; it had also greyed significantly, leaving it almost impossible to tell what color it had been, previously. Wisps of hair still clung to the top of the skull, although it looked so frail that the slightest gust of wind might uproot and blow it away. The mouth still hung open in a soundless cry, the gums long receded to the point where much more of each tooth was visible than usual.  


Immediately, Elisabet felt sick to her stomach, gagging as she staggered to the side, gripping the metal doorway tightly to support herself. She forced herself to look away from the body on the floor, staring into the darkened corner of the room for several moments before the smell slowly began to come over her. It was putrid and sweet, bringing back memories of finding the rotting corpse of a raccoon that had gotten stuck in a drainage pipe at the edge of her family’s ranch and which she had found most likely a month or so later, but multiplied by several counts. It was the last straw, her stomach churning as she pitched forward, vomiting onto the floor. She continued to heave and cough for another minute or so, the remainder of the contents of her stomach coming up with ease. Once she had been dry heaving for thirty seconds or so, having long since run out of things to expel, she forced herself to take a deep breath in through her mouth, pinching her nose shut as she did.  


Elisabet staggered out of the room, making her way to the end of the hallway and coming to a stop on a platform that jutted out over the center of the deep chasm into the mountain. The cold wind whipped at her, lifting her hair and clothing and tugging at it with a good amount of force, but most importantly, it seemed to be carrying the smell away. She took several slow, deep breaths of the fresh, albeit frigid, air before forcing herself to turn and head back inside.  


As she entered the room, once again, she took care to skirt around the pool of vomit to the left. Now that she was braced for the smell, she was able to ignore it a little better, although not entirely. Looking past the smell and the body on the floor, she began to realize the scene was much grizzlier than she thought. There were more bodies in the room, likely adding to the severity of the stench. Most of them were around a round table in the center of the room, some still propped up in their chairs.  


Something made the hair on the back of her neck stand up straight, although she had a feeling it was more than simply the fact that she was surrounded by dead bodies.  


“What happened here? Who—?”  


As she began to voice her question, she froze, eyes widening as her mouth was left hanging open. The realization that she didn’t need to ask the question, after all, hit her and she could have sworn her heart had stopped for good, this time.  


“ _Who else could they have been?_ ”  


She slowly stepped forward, approaching a terminal next to the chair closest to the door, a handprint scanner still displaying on the top of it. The glowing green image of a hand seemed to taunt her, daring her to be brave enough to activate it when every fiber of her being begged her not to do so. Before she could talk herself out of it, she raised her hand over the symbol. She paused for only a moment before placing her hand on the pad, triggering an electronic chime.  


Immediately, the door behind her closed and she whipped around to face it. The lock still showed that it was open, however, so whatever she had done had at least not locked her inside. A moment later, an electronic buzzing sounded in her ear and she turned back to the scene at the table. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of holographic images of her team, the Alphas, all appeared, seated in the various chairs around her. The purple-tinged images of the people she had been working with so closely for the past few months all seemed to flicker and waver slightly, but the images were largely not damaged or corrupted.  


“I’m locked out of core control—Alpha clearance overridden… what the hell is Omega clearance?”  


The image of Charles looked visibly frustrated as the one of Samina beside Elisabet suddenly sat up straight, her hands raising to cover her mouth.  


“Oh no.”  


A new image flickered into existence, hovering in the air over the center of the table. As soon as it became clear who the figure was, Elisabet’s mouth hung open, only to slam shut a moment later as she clenched her jaw, her hands curling into fists at her sides.  


“Alpha personnel, sorry to alarm you, but… I need you to listen, okay? To what I’m about to say.”  


The image of Ted towering above her team as he stood so nonchalantly, hands clasped before him, ignited a fire in her chest. Here she was, possibly a thousand years in the future, and an image of him was still here.  


“This isn’t easy, see I’ve… uh—please, stop trying to access the system, okay?”  


The image of Ted whirled around, jabbing a finger accusatorily at Charles.  


“Now, see, what this is about… is… stop it!”  


He suddenly strode over to the edge of the table, stopping directly in front of Charles, who recoiled at the motion, raising his hands in a surrendering gesture. Ted ran a hand back through his hair as he began to move back into the center of the room.  


“I can’t stop thinking about the ones who’ll come after us. Those innocents. Those… blameless men… a-and women. We’re going to give them knowledge… like it’s a gift?!”  


Elisabet’s hands slowly began to uncurl from fists as her eyes grew wider. A sinking feeling had appeared in her chest, quickly heading for her stomach.  


“Ted, Ted, we’ve talked about this before,” the image of Samina interrupted. “APOLLO has three-thousand-plus failsafe conditions—”  


“It’s not a gift, it’s a disease!”  


The recording of Ted’s voice cracked slightly at his sudden outburst, the image of Samina recoiling slightly at the outburst.  


“They’re the cure, and we’re going to give them the disease? _Our_ disease?!”  


Elisabet felt her breathing quickening as cold sweat began to break out on her palms and the back of her neck.  


“No. We can’t.”  


The sinking feeling that had started in her chest felt like it had plummeted into her stomach, dragging all of her internal organs down with it, as her eyes fully widened, her chest heaving with each gasping breath, no longer caring about the heavy odor in the room.  


“And it’s not too late… if we’re willing to sacrifice.”  


“Ted, it doesn’t need to be like this!” Samina broke in, rising from her seat slightly.  


“It already is, Samina.”  


His image stepped to the edge of the table nearest her before stopping, one hand held out toward her for a moment before it fell to his side with a heavy sigh.  


“I did it three minutes ago.”  


“ _No, don’t say it. Don’t say it, Ted, don’t—_ ”  


“I’ve purged APOLLO. It’s gone. All of it. Every copy.”  


The images of most of the Alphas leapt to their feet as Charles began to shout back at Ted, but Elisabet barely registered any of it. The sound of her own heartbeat in her ears drowned out almost all noise around her, her vision seemingly focusing in on the image of Ted while everything around him faded away. She numbly turned to look back toward the hologram of Samina beside her just as the one of Brochard-Klein seemed to move through Elisabet, placing a hand on the shoulder of the now sobbing woman.  


“I’m sorry. Really, I am.”  


The sound of Ted’s voice once again broke through her daze and she whipped around to look at him, once again; he was currently facing away from her, confronting Charles.  


“But sometimes, to protect innocents… innocents have to die.”  


Elisabet’s eyes went wide, once again as she felt something bubbling up in her chest. She knew what was about to happen even before hearing the cold, overly-processed voice of the facility’s computer system.  


“Emergency alert. Venting atmosphere.”  


“ _No_!”  


The scream tore itself from her throat as she stepped forward, reaching toward the recordings of the Alphas suffocating in the vacuum Ted had somehow created inside the room. Hot tears burst forth as they all went limp, some falling to the ground, others simply slumping over in their chairs. One by one, though, they stopped moving. The purple images of her colleagues, her friends, as she knew them, flickered and disappeared, leaving the emaciated corpses in their place. Meanwhile, the image of Ted looked on with an expression that almost seemed to be somewhere between sorrow and remorse, one hand held over his mouth as he stared into the middle-distance, his eyes glassy and seemingly removed from what was happening before him.  


“You motherfucker! You fucking goddamn piece of shit excuse for a human being! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck… _you_!”  


Each word tore itself from Elisabet with force, reverberating throughout the room, each echo distorting slightly and adding to the eeriness of the scene, but she didn’t care. She slammed her fist down on the edge of the table, oblivious to the pain shooting up her arm from the impact. She continued to unleash a stream of insults and curses, but with each word her speech began to devolve into incomprehensible sobs, until finally she fell to her knees, folding her arms on the table surface before her and burying her head in them.  


Elisabet didn’t try to stop the loud sobs that tore through her, each one wracking her entire body in miniature spasms. After what felt like hours, but must have only been several minutes, she lifted her head, once more, sniveling as she tried to pull herself to her feet. It took her several tries to fully support her weight, but she finally managed to force her knees to stop shaking so badly and hold her still. Her throat felt raw and her eyes burned, which she tried to remedy by wiping at them with the backs of her hands, but she didn’t try to stop the crying or the sobbing.  


Her eyes fell on the body in the chair next to her, her throat closing up all over again at with the knowledge of who the grey, quasi-mummified remains actually were.  


“ _I just talked to you a minute ago… gave you a hug… You were alive…_ ”  


Her hand slowly reached out toward Samina’s corpse, but she let it fall to her side, once again, before it even came anywhere close to touching. She couldn’t. It would be admitting this was all too real.  


Elisabet turned away from the bodies toward the center of the room, where the image of Ted had stood a minute ago. The recording had stopped, so the space was now empty, but she could easily picture him there, regardless.  


“I’m gonna tell the army to bomb your fucking _Thebes_ bunker. Nuke it ‘till it’s a fucking crater. I’m not gonna let you do this, for real…”  


“ _What makes you think this isn’t for real, and there’s no way to stop it_?”  


She closed her eyes tightly against the intrusive thoughts, shaking her head quickly to try to dispel them, but more seemed to come in their place. Finally, one popped up that caused her to pause, all of the others fading away until one, clear question remained.  


“ _Was I in that recording?_ ”  


She froze mid-pace, staring blankly ahead before whipping around and approaching the console she had interacted with when she had first entered. Without hesitation, she slammed her hand down on the surface, initiating the recording, once again. The purple-hued holograms of her friends appeared around her, but she forced herself to hold back the emotions that threatened to overtake her, once again. She blocked out the sounds of their voices, instead focusing on each face in turn, taking a mental roll call. By the time she had made it all the way around to Samina, beside her, confusion had firmly settled in her features.  


“I’m… not here.”  


She did one more lap around the group with her eyes, taking in each face carefully, but none of them sported her own features.  


“What the fuck…?”  


She opened her Focus interface, stopping the recording as she did.  


“ _Aloy must have found something on the way through here. If I—died—before we even got here, there’s a good chance there would be record of it somewhere in this facility, right?_ ”  


Her hand paused in mid-air as she contemplated whether to examine the data points picked up in the world or Aloy’s journals, first, but finally decided on the latter. There were no new written journals, but when she went to the video side, she found two new entries. Her head tilted to the side ever so slightly before she tapped the older of the two. The holographic image of Aloy appeared before her, seated on the ground, once again, and seemingly rather cold as she hugged her knees to her chest tightly.  


“Hey, Elisabet. As much as I don’t want to take your advice, you… may have a point…”  


Elisabet paused the recording, moving back to the main menu.  


“ _I’ll come back, sorry Aloy._ ”  


As soon as she opened the other journal, the image of a noticeably distraught Aloy appeared standing before her, immediately bursting into motion.  


“Elisabet, I-I… by the goddess…”  


Confusion creased Elisabet’s features as she watched the recording continue to play out.  


“I-I can’t believe… I mean, I didn’t know…”  


The recording took a deep breath, pulling her hair behind her for a moment before releasing it to fall against her back, once again.  


“I don’t know what’s going on between us, and how all of our—visions, or episodes as you call them—are happening, but… I guess part of me always hoped that somehow that meant there was a chance I-I… could find you, meet you, in person somehow, but… now I know…”  


The image of Aloy hung her head, placing her hands on her hips.  


“Why do you have to be so selfless? Just for once… could you try not to be?”  


Elisabet was only growing more confused with each passing sentence, her hands instinctually curling into fists and relaxing as she grew impatient waiting for the recording of the girl to get to her point.  


“I… I found how you… die.”  


Elisabet’s eyes widened as her heart seemed to come to a grinding halt, the blood in her veins freezing instantly.  


“You can avoid it, if you think of another way. I-if I tell you now, maybe you can.”  


The image of Aloy suddenly stepped forward, looking directly into Elisabet’s eyes, it seemed.  


“The ‘port seal,’ whatever that is, at GAIA Prime will fail. You decided to be the one to go outside to fix it, and locked yourself out because of it. You—you saved everyone, but… not yourself.”  


By the end, Aloy’s voice had grown much softer, making her much harder to hear over the slow, pounding pulse in Elisabet’s ears.  


“I don’t know if I can change the past, somehow, but please… _please_ … think of another way. I-I… if there’s some way I can stop that…”  


Elisabet’s throat began to close up as she slowly sank into a seated position, leaning against the side of the table in the middle of the room for support.  


“You don’t deserve to die… alone… in the end of the world… surrounded by so much death…”  


Elisabet covered her face with her hands, her skin cold and clammy to the touch.  


“You can… you can find the recording of the event in the log of all the ‘datapoints’ I’ve been finding and watch it for yourself, but… please listen to me. If only once.”  


The image of Aloy’s head hung once again before she heaved a heavy sigh and reached toward the interface, her image freezing a moment later. It took Elisabet several long moments to force herself to lift her head, taking a slow, shuddering breath.  


“ _H-how…? People aren’t supposed to know how they die… not like this, at least…_ ”  


A dull ache began to appear in her temples and she groaned, rubbing at them with her fingertips.  


“ _What did she say happened, again?_ ”  


She navigated out of the video journal and to the collection of datapoints, as Aloy had mentioned, finding the most recent one at the bottom. With a shaking hand, she tapped on the icon for the file. A crackly, distorted voice began playing in her ear almost immediately. Charles’ introduction immediately sent shivers down her spine.  


“I’m logging this six hours after the deployment of GAIA Prime.”  


“ _Wait… this is supposed to happen within_ six hours _of getting there?!_ ”  


He then went on to explain everything Aloy had already said: the access seal malfunction, the signal bleeding through, and the need to fix it from outside. Finally, it seemed to get to the point Elisabet was most interested to hear.  


“I’m now switching to a recording of the event.”  


The audio changed slightly, once again, as more voices appeared. She recognized her team by sound alone as they argued about what to do with the port seal. The moment that immediately raised the hairs on the back of her neck came with the sound of Charles’s angry voice.  


“It should be Lis’s decision!”  


“So when’s she going to get here?”  


“She said five minutes. You don’t think…?”  


The trace of doubt in Samina’s voice was enough for her to predict what was going to happen next, but she still found herself unable to fully brace for the moment.  


“Oh no…”  


“Okay, everyone. I’ve repaired the seal. GAIA?”  


The sound of her own voice speaking words she didn’t remember saying and knowing, this time, that it wasn’t due to her and Aloy’s strange situation, made her skin crawl and she felt her breathing quicken, the edges of her vision growing dark before she forced herself to breathe slower, once again.  


“Elisabet—no! We’ll find a way to bring you back in—”  


“Not going to happen. Swarm’s too close.”  


Elisabet’s head fell back against the table behind her as she pressed her hands against her temples.  


“ _No, no, no, no this can’t be happening…_ ”  


“Really, it’s all right. GAIA’s complete.”  


“No, it’s not all right you—fuck!”  


Her voice echoed about the empty room, causing her to jump slightly from the sudden volume, but she quickly forced herself to focus on the recording, once again.  


“She’ll take care of things from here on out… that’s what she does.”  


“Not like this,” Charles’ voice intruded, sounding incredibly strained. “There’s so much we—”  


“Guys, you know me: I’m no good at endings. At… letting things end. So let’s not.”  


After a moment of pause, Travis’s voice came through the recording, sounding more resigned than she had ever heard him in the entire time she’d known him.  


“So… happy trails, Lis, and see ya ‘round?”  


“Yeah… take care of each other, all right?”  


“Lis…”  


Charles’s voice sounded absolutely pleading at this point, and she found herself agreeing with him. She desperately wanted the Elisabet in the recording to not do what she had done, to not be the way she was. Aloy was right, there had to be another way.  


“I’m okay with this.”  


“ _How can you be?_ ”  


“I want to go home.”  


“ _Home doesn’t exist, anymore._ ”  


“Goodbye.”  


“ _Don’t go._ ”  


The recording ended after a few moments of silence, leaving Elisabet alone in the room full of the corpses of her friends and colleagues. Finally, she forced herself to her feet, once again, as she took a slow, shuddering breath. A memory of something from one of her episodes days ago suddenly popped into her head and she turned around, facing the table in the middle of the room. The fixture was not simply a construct with a flat top designed to provide a surface to put things on, but actually a means of accessing the main control system of GAIA Prime.  


She found one of the access consoles nearby, in front of the chair she knew Samina had sat in, and attempted to sync her Focus to it. To her surprise, it worked almost immediately, bringing up the main access screen for the entire facility. Numerous functions were listed as “offline,” but she navigated past them to the file storage section. It took her a minute or two to scan through the various folders contained within, many of which were either corrupted or inaccessible, but she finally found the one she was looking for.  


Her hand reached out to tap the line labelled “Alpha Registry” and, to her even more incredible surprise, it seemed to register that the file was still accessible and undamaged. She quickly transferred it to her own Focus’s storage, watching as the progress bar moved relatively rapidly. Once it was done, she moved back to her own interface, pulling up the video journal section, once again.  


“Aloy, I… I saw your last video and… the one of… my team… I… how is someone supposed to react to knowing how they might die?”  


She shook her head, rubbing at her eyes tiredly.  


“I… there’s a lot in this place that I have to think about and… well, I’ll archive the recording from the control room, here, in case you don’t get to see it, yourself. For you, here, though, I retrieved a copy of the Alpha Registry, as you mentioned in one of your previous journals. I can’t remember why you said it was important, but… well, you’ve got it now. I’m… not sure what to think of everything that’s happened here. If it’s all true, then I only have a matter of a day or two to come up with a solution. Believe me, I… don’t like the prospect of dying out in the fucking apocalypse, either. I guess… you should find out what exactly happened here, how GAIA Prime got destroyed, but I don’t know where to go to find that sort of thing. I hate to say it, but… that guy Sylens may be our best bet. I’ve been blocking his signal, but… I lifted it temporarily. I’m sure he’ll contact you soon enough. Elisabet out.”  


As soon as she hit the “end recording” button, the floor seemed to jerk beneath her and she staggered forward, nearly falling flat on her face if not for the hands that suddenly grabbed her arm, holding her upright. She blinked rapidly glancing around the space for a moment before her brow furrowed in confusion.  


“ _Where the hell am I?_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this scene was everything y'all thought it would be. The feels parade isn't done, though. The last few chapters are quite long, so buckle up.


	38. GAIA Prime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imminent mortality is a strong motivator, wouldn't you think?
> 
> While this chapter isn't short, by any means (I think it's actually longer than any other chapter so far) it doesn't compare to the mammoths that are the final two.
> 
> Brace yourselves. You've been warned.

The room she found herself in was rather small and narrow, with metal walls that sported thick, metal beams that reinforced their slightly curved shape. A moment later, the floor jerked once again and she staggered to the side, but the grip on her arm remained firm.  


“You okay there, Lizzy?”  


She glanced back to find the helmet of an HEV suit staring back at her. If she hadn’t heard Travis’s voice a moment ago, she would have no way of knowing who it was.  


“ _Happy trails, Lis, and see ya around._ ”  


A shiver ran down her spine at the memory of the recording she had heard only minutes ago.  


“Just don’t have my sea legs, I guess,” she replied, forcing herself to keep her voice under control.  


“I feel ya. I hate flying, for the record, but it sure as hell beats walking, right now.”  


After a few more tentative seconds, Travis let go of her and she was able to stand confidently on her own. As she glanced around the room, once again, she quickly began to piece together where they were.  


“ _The VTOL. We already evacuated Zero Dawn?_ ”  


“Did we get everything?”  


The robotic-looking suit across from her shrugged.  


“I hope so, but… shit went down so fast back there that damned if I know. I grabbed everything I could, just barely made it out with my own shit, plus a few drives of data for HADES I had on my own.”  


Elisabet began to nod slowly when a thought occurred to her and she looked around the room, once again. Based on the lack of large cargo containers around them and the seats fixed to the walls on either side, she surmised that they had to be on the second deck of the VTOL, the passenger cabin above the main cargo bay. Her eyes fell on the ladder down to the lower level and she began to walk toward it, only to come to an abrupt halt when another HEV suit-clad person appeared at the top of it.  


“Everything seems to be lashed down as best as we could get it,” Brochard-Klein’s voice reported, sighing as he dragged himself to a standing position from the top of the ladder.  


“ _So when’s she going to get here?_ ”  


Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to push past the rising feeling of dread and despair in her chest.  


“Did you see the box with the physical backups?”  


The other figure regarded Elisabet for a moment or two before slowly shaking his head.  


“I can’t remember…”  


With a growl of frustration, she pushed past him, hopping onto the ladder and descending as quickly as possible. As soon as her feet hit the floor of the cargo bay, she spun around, taking in the many large boxes and crates placed throughout the room. Even as the VTOL pitched and turned in the air, the main pallets all of the equipment was resting on remained in place. She could feel her pulse pounding in her ears as she began to hurry through the rows of cargo, searching for the box she remembered assigning the crew to place the backups in earlier that day. As she neared the far end of the bay with still no sign of it, she began to panic.  


“ _Where the hell is it?!_ ”  


Suddenly, something grabbed her from behind and she jumped, letting out a cry of surprise and swinging her arm at whatever it was. A voice sounded and she paused for a moment, breathing heavily inside her HEV suit and accidentally fogging up the viewport. Once she had slowed her breathing, the glass cleared and she saw another member of the team in a similar suit standing before her.  


“Elisabet, is everything okay?”  


She couldn’t see Charles’s face through the suit’s helmet, but she could only imagine the expression on it after that display.  


“I don’t see the box with all of the hard copy backups of the systems.”  


He glanced around the space for a moment, as well, before they turned back to each other.  


“Elisabet, I think there’s the very real possibility it was—”  


“Don’t—don’t say it, please.”  


Her chest was heaving as she began to feel dizzy. She had just seen the video of Ted wiping APOLLO, killing her team, and herself… and now her plan to safeguard at least some of that had failed because someone forgot the goddamn box.  


“ _This… this can’t be happening._ ”  


She closed her eyes tightly for a moment before opening them with a heavy sigh.  


“ _When we get to GAIA Prime, check everything. Maybe Aloy’s world is actually fake, just some kind of psychotic illusion or, like, the worst possible timeline from here. Maybe you can still fix this._ ”  


“I’m sorry, Elisabet. Everything was so hectic when they showed up and said everyone had to go right then, that there wasn’t going to be another transport…”  


“ _Wait, what?_ ”  


“All of our best laid plans went to hell in five seconds flat.”  


She slowly nodded, letting out another heavy sigh.  


“Well, I guess in that case I just hope everything got transferred over to GAIA Prime, even without the backups.”  


“Me too… me too…”  


The two of them joined the rest of the Alphas on the passenger deck moments later, Elisabet falling into a seat next to the suit that her Focus identified as Margo and securing her safety harness in place.  


“Did we forget something, Dr. Sobeck?”  


She glanced over at Margo before nodding slowly.  


“Shit. What was it?”  


“The physical backups I had everyone make.”  


“Damn, I could have sworn I saw someone put the box in the VTOL…”  


Elisabet’s eyebrows raised inside her suit as she looked back over at Margo to find her already looking in her direction.  


“Do you think… it got put on _a_ VTOL?”  


Elisabet quickly operated the interface built into her suit to connect her with the pilots.  


“Is there a way of communicating with the other VTOLs?”  


“Yes, ma’am, but we’re trying to keep a low profile and that would be like firing a signal flare for the Swarm.”  


She swore under her breath before sighing and leaning her head back until her helmet hit the metal wall behind her.  


“What’s our ETA on GAIA Prime?”  


“Roughly twenty-five minutes, now, ma’am.”  


“Thanks.”  


With a heavy sigh, she leaned back in her seat, trying not to mentally picture all of the greyed, quasi-mummified corpses of her colleagues sitting around her, rather than the metal HEV suits that actually populated the room.  


The flight to GAIA Prime wasn’t one of the smoothest flights Elisabet had ever taken, with the VTOL constantly shaking and jolting as it was battered by the winds outside. One particularly hard jolt caused a chorus of groans to sound from the passengers. The lights in the cabin dimmed for a moment before coming back up. For a moment, the interior seemed to have changed, the space she was in much larger and more open, yet still containing bright lights along the walls. As her eyes focused on the image of some large piece of machinery beside her, the lights flickered and she found herself in the back of the VTOL, once again.  


“ _Now is_ so _not the time for this kind of seeing-things bullshit._ ”  


“Nothing like a nice, relaxing flight, huh, Dr. Sobeck?”  


She turned to her right at the sound of Margo’s voice in her ear, only to jump in surprise, letting out an involuntary yelp of surprise. A corpse with grey skin and, hollow eye sockets, and wisps of hair atop its head was staring back at her, its mouth hanging open in a slack-jawed scream. A blink later, and it was replaced with the image of Margo’s HEV suit.  


“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you so badly,” Margo apologized. “Were you actually asleep or something?”  


Elisabet swallowed in an attempt to bring her vocal cords back under control, her heartbeat pounding loudly in her ears.  


“Guess I’m just that tired.”  


“Sorry, then.”  


“Don’t be, it’s… it’s fine.”  


The suit next to her stared back in silence for a moment or two before nodding.  


“If you say so.”  


Elisabet forced herself to stay alert and awake, praying that her strange visions would stay away until they reached GAIA Prime. After what felt like another hour, the sound of the pilot’s voice in her ear caused her to jump slightly in surprise.  


“We’re on final approach to the facility. Should be touchdown in five minutes.”  


Elisabet felt cold sweat forming on her palms, but she was unable to wipe it away as the suit’s gloves held it all within, causing her to squirm slightly at the wet, slippery feeling. What felt like seconds later, a strong feeling of G-forces pushing down on her told Elisabet that the VTOL was actually landing. As the landing gear hit the ground, a strong shudder passed through the craft, followed shortly after by sputtering sound and then what sounded like something winding down.  


“Shit, what the fuck?”  


The hair on the back of her neck rose at the sound of the pilot’s annoyed tone, quickly prompting her to release the harness on her seat and hop to her feet.  


“What’s wrong?”  


“For some reason our cloaking device is malfunctioning. We’re going to have power down the bird to avoid broadcasting a signal.”  


Elisabet breathed a sigh of relief that it hadn’t been anything immediately hazardous to their health and turned back to her team, who were all now getting to their feet, as well.  


“Okay, let’s get this shit inside.”  


The sound of nine pairs of boots stomping down the ladder into the cargo bay rang throughout the VTOL, each footstep feeling heavier to Elisabet than the last. The back door of the craft was already opening as she moved around the edge of the crate closest to it. Immediately, she was confronted with a hazy, brown image of the world beyond. Memories of the greenery and snow the first times she had visited this site passed before her eyes for a moment, before being quickly replaced by the desolation currently on display. The sight of the lights from the entrance to GAIA Prime only a couple hundred yards away brought a feeling of dread over her, rather than relief.  


“ _We made it… for now._ ”  


She turned around to face into the cargo hold to find the rest of her team staring out at the wasteland beyond, as well.  


“Well, we came this far. Let’s not let ourselves stop in the last feet.”  


They quickly set about grabbing anything they could carry by hand before Elisabet took the first steps off the end of the ramp. The ground crunched and scattered beneath her feet as she walked, the remnants of grass and leaves disintegrating at the slightest touch. She forced herself to keep her eyes focused on the lights of the facility ahead; if she looked anywhere else, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from crying. Once she reached the main entrance, she glanced back to find her team right behind her, everyone else having remained silent on the short trek, as well. Her mouth opened to say something, but closed a moment later as no words came to her; instead, she turned and led the way into the airlock of the facility.  


Once the doors had closed behind them and the scrubbers had run their course to clear the environment inside the small room, the light above the main door turned green and she activated the holographic lock to open it. For a moment, the hallway beyond appeared as she remembered it from Aloy’s world earlier that day: destroyed, frozen, and half-overtaken by rock formations and snow drifts. A blink later, however, and it was replaced with the clean, modern, and entirely not-destroyed version in her own reality. The lights overhead were still flickering to life along the hallway as she took the first steps into the facility.  


“Welcome, Dr. Sobeck. You are cleared to proceed.”  


She shivered at the sound of the synthetic voice, also so familiar from her episode, but continued ahead, as well.  


“Leave everything here, for now, until we can get it all in, then we’ll deal with sorting it to where it needs to go.”  


Her team obliged, lining the crates, bags, and boxes they had carried from the VTOL along the walls on both sides of the hallway before turning and heading back into the airlock. As they returned to the craft outside, they found the two pilots standing at the end of the ramp, seemingly deep in an argument.  


“What’s going on?” Elisabet demanded, approaching the two of them.  


“We can’t fly out of here without attracting all kinds of attention, and he wants to radio for a pickup!”  


“What the hell else are we going to do, then?”  


“Was there not another VTOL with us?”  


“Only needed one to fly to here,” the first pilot said, shaking his head. “The rest went to Elysium, where we’re supposed to be headed.”  


Elisabet bit her lip for a moment as she stared at the craft before suddenly turning back to the two pilots.  


“I can see if I can encode a short, quick message to one of your other VTOLs.”  


“The Swarm is gonna see that and then they’re coming here—”  


“Not if you let me have a crack at it.”  


They glanced at each other for a moment before the first man sighed and threw his hands up in defeat.  


“It’s all yours, ma’am.”  


“I’ll need the channel for your other pilots.”  


They gestured for her to follow them into the craft and the three of them marched up the metal ramp. As she passed her team loading the larger crates onto small pallet jacks, she tapped the nearest one on the shoulder.  


“Keep working on this, I’m going to go help these pilots for a second.”  


“Gotcha,” Travis’s voice responded.  


Elisabet let her hand fall to her side, once again, as she jogged to catch up to the pilots, following them up the ladder and into the passenger compartment. Within three minutes of sitting down in the cockpit, she had managed to craft an encryption that she believed would at least be able to confuse the Swarm for long enough that they wouldn’t immediately come looking, relying on several nearby communication towers to bounce the signal around before sending it on to the other aircraft.  


“What did you send, ma’am?” the second pilot asked, sounding somewhat apprehensive.  


“The oldest code for help in the book: SOS.”  


The sound of quiet laughter came from the first pilot as she couldn’t help but grin, as well, as she rose to her feet, turning to face the two men in the doorway behind her.  


“Thank you, both of you, for helping us get here. Your other pilots probably won’t be able to respond, but I believe they should be here shortly for you.”  


“Are you sure?”  


The tone of fear in the second pilot’s voice drove an icy knife through her heart and she found herself stepping forward, placing one hand on his shoulder.  


“Yes.”  


It seemed to be enough for him, as the figure nodded and she excused herself, slipping between them and heading back down into the cargo bay. It only took a few more trips before all of the crates, boxes, and equipment in the VTOL had been dragged through the airlock of GAIA Prime and deposited in the main entryway. With one last glance around the empty compartment, Elisabet hopped off the ramp and began the walk back to the front door of the facility. Once she reached the halfway point, she came to a stop, staring up at the imposing metal wall before her, installed directly into the rock face of the mountain around it. The entire thing looked more like some kind of doomsday missile silo, yet it contained something that was almost the polar opposite.  


“ _Still has to withstand the apocalypse, though._ ”  


With a shiver, she forced herself to resume walking toward the main door. As she approached, the feeling of dread from before only began to grow stronger. Something about the sight of the large, metal hatch waiting for her almost felt like staring into the mouth of some giant creature, luring its smaller prey in ever closer. Images of dead bodies strewn about the control room and the sound of her own voice saying goodbye swam around her as her legs seemed to take her on autopilot, no matter how badly her subconscious screamed at her to run the other way, to tell someone else about Ted, to go back to Zero Dawn and get the box that she knew would potentially be the only way to save the future from the shame of one man.  


None of those things were going to happen, though.  


It was like fate had taken over, pushing her on autopilot with an evil grin as it marched her toward the death to come that she knew about all too well.  


“ _There has to be another way. You can change all of that. You have to._ ”  


As she finally came to a stop outside the doors to GAIA Prime and glanced up at the sheer, metal surface, once again, a single thought broke through the cacophony in her head.  


“ _No one has to die here. Not right now, at least. Not in pain. Not in fear._ ”  


Just then, a sound came from behind her and she whirled in place, her mind conjuring images of a Scarab’s tail headed straight for her chest, but no impact came. Instead, another metal shape materialized out of the dusty haze: another VTOL landing beside the first.  


“GAIA Prime this Eagle 15, we are right outside and ready for exfil of the pilots for Eagle 10.”  


“Roger that, stepping out now.”  


She turned to see the door to GAIA Prime opening, revealing the two pilots hurrying out into the wasteland beyond. At the sight of her almost directly in front of them, they came to a stop.  


“Ma’am,” the first pilot said, offering a salute.  


“What are your names?”  


“Private Bu—”  


“No, not rank and last name, what’re your first names?”  


They paused for a moment before he cleared his throat.  


“James Buckwell, ma’am.”  


“Zachary Sewell.”  


“Thank you, James and Zachary,” Elisabet said softly, offering her hand to the man closest to her.  


After a moment’s hesitation, the first pilot, James, took it with a firm grasp and shook her hand.  


“Thank you, Dr. Sobeck, and godspeed.”  


“It’s just Elisabet.”  


A moment later, he nodded and released her hand, moving toward the VTOL. The second pilot took her hand, as well, nodding as he shook it.  


“See you on the other side, Elisabet.”  


She nodded curtly in response, suddenly finding herself unable to speak, before the pilot released her hand and hurried after his comrade. They boarded the running VTOL, which began to power up to take flight, once again.  


“GAIA Prime, this is Eagle 15. We are Oscar Mike to Elysium. I don’t know what else to say except… goodbye.”  


Elisabet nodded slowly, staring at the lights of the craft only a few hundred yards away, its landing gear slowly beginning to lift off the ground.  


“Goodbye, gentlemen.”  


With that, the aircraft lifted from the ground and began to bank to the right, disappearing into the distance only moments later. Just like that, the ground outside GAIA Prime was silent and still. It was almost hard to imagine that any signs of life had once been here, at all. For all she knew, Elisabet was staring out at the surface of Mars.  


“ _Damn you Ted, and all of your dumb decisions. Damn all of it to hell._ ”  


With that, she turned on her heel and entered the building, heaving a heavy sigh as the airlock door closed behind her. The environmental scrubbers went to work, providing the room with a breathable atmosphere before allowing her entrance to the rest of the facility. As soon as she stepped into the hallway beyond, she removed the helmet to her suit, breathing in the cool, sterile air.  


A few members of her team still lingered in the hallway, most of them fully out of their HEV suits, while Travis still wore everything but the helmet and gloves. As he spotted Elisabet, he gave her a smirk.  


“I was beginning to wonder if I needed to go out after ya, Lizzy,” he quipped.  


“Nope, just wanted to take one last look.”  


They all nodded slowly before Elisabet sighed, pulling the gloves of the suit off and running her fingers through her hair.  


“ _Now the real work begins. This place is going to blow to hell at some point… why? And as soon as they seal those doors, shit’s gonna hit the fan. Maybe I can try to find an answer to how this place goes kaboom before we seal the doors and tackle both problems._ ”  


She hurriedly removed the rest of her HEV suit, stowing it in the locker room with the others before hurriedly tapping her Focus.  


“GAIA?”  


A brief pause followed, just long enough to drive her doubt that GAIA had been transferred successfully into overdrive.  


“Yes, Elisabet, I am here.”  


She breathed a sigh of relief as she ran one hand through her hair, once again.  


“Okay, listen, we don’t have much time. I’ve seen things in my last episode that… well, let’s say they aren’t good. I need you to scan for any faults, any defects in this facility, anything that could cause a massive explosion.”  


“Elisabet, this is a rather tall order to address at this moment in time.”  


“GAIA, we don’t have a lot of time, so it’s kind of now or never.”  


Silence followed her statement for a moment before the AI’s voice returned.  


“Affirmative. I will begin investigations of structural integrity and life support systems for signs of damage or faults.”  


“Good, good,” Elisabet muttered, starting back toward the main hallway.  


“Query: what are you going to do in the meantime?”  


“I’ve got… some other things to look into.”  


Elisabet stepped into the main hallway and was immediately confronted by an overwhelming feeling of dread as she glanced toward the door to the outside.  


“ _You can come back to that one. Shouldn’t be too difficult._ ”  


She forced herself to turn away and head farther down the hallway. Her colleagues were already beginning to bring their effects to their quarters, but Elisabet ignored her items and instead made her way toward the first place that had popped into her mind: the control room. As she wound her way through the hallways of GAIA Prime, a feeling of déjà vu came over her and she shivered, rubbing at her arms. Flashes of the same hallways destroyed and half-buried in snow kept flashing before her eyes, but she forced herself to brush them off.  


As she reached the hallway leading into the control room, however, she found herself unable to escape from the image of the cold, snowy version she had walked down in Aloy’s world earlier that day. For a moment, she panicked, thinking she had slipped back into one of her episodes, but when she pinched her arm, she felt the fabric of her sweatshirt, not Aloy’s jacket. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly until she saw the strange star-like patterns before opening them to the normal, intact, well-lit hallway she knew she had walked into a moment ago.  


“ _Now is not the time for this. Focus._ ”  


She took a deep breath before striding forward and opening the door ahead of her. The lights in the room flickered on as she made her way to the table in the center of the room. It seemed odd to her at first, seeing it without the dead bodies strewn about, but she quickly reminded herself that this was a much better alternative.  


Her Focus interface came to life as she accessed the main control panel, the world around her swirling with commands, menus, files, and other such options. She scanned over all of them for a long moment, frowning slightly as the realization that she didn’t know exactly what she was looking for hit her. Just as she was about to give up her search, her eyes fell on an option under the “functions” heading and she froze in place.  


“Access.”  


She quickly tapped the option, opening the submenu beyond. There were numerous options, but her eyes quickly settled on the one relating to managing user access.  


“Maybe I can take his keys away, or change the locks.”  


She quickly opened this option and was confronted with a list of names and clearance levels. A frown tugged at her lips as she didn’t find Ted’s name anywhere on it. Her arms folded over her chest as she tapped her foot subconsciously, the sound echoing off the walls of the empty room.  


“GAIA?”  


“Yes, Elisabet?”  


“Does Ted have any access to this facility?”  


A brief pause followed her question before an electronic chime sounded.  


“I cannot find any access privileges for Theodore Faro other than on a communications level.”  


“Who has Omega clearance?”  


A longer pause followed before the AI’s voice returned, sounding much more confused.  


“I do not see any references to Omega-level clearance.”  


Elisabet’s teeth ground together as her hands instinctually tightened around her forearms.  


“It’s there, somewhere.”  


“Elisabet, I apologize, but I do not see—”  


“Then maybe it isn’t there, yet,” she interrupted, beginning to pace back and forth. “GAIA, can you block anything relating to Omega level clearance, even if it doesn’t exist, yet?”  


“I can attempt to, however since anything of the sort has not been identified, it is difficult to know exactly what form of safeguards would be required.”  


“Okay, just… please?”  


Her tone sounded so pleading that it made Elisabet cringe, but she needed some kind of answer to assuage the pounding heartbeat in her ears.  


“I will try my best, Elisabet.”  


“Thank you.”  


She breathed a sigh of relief, placing her head in her hands and rubbing at her eyes tiredly.  


“Have you found anything about the structure, yet?”  


“No reports have come back indicating structural faults or defects that would cause the level of damage you have described, however it is difficult since I do not know exactly what I am looking for.”  


“I don’t either, but… if we don’t find it…”  


She trailed off, suddenly unable to finish the sentence, instead only letting out a heavy sigh as she let her hands fall to her sides, once again.  


“Elisabet, is this related to your episode this morning?”  


“Yes, GAIA, it is.”  


“Query: what—?”  


“It doesn’t go well… for anyone, here.”  


A pause followed, the silence almost a physical presence in the room.  


“Query: what have you seen, Elisabet?”  


Her jaw clenched as she slowly scanned the empty room, memories of greying corpses on the floor and slumped over in the chairs nearby flashing before her.  


“Exactly what I just said, GAIA. Nothing good.”  


“Elisabet, tell me specifically.”  


She blinked at the insistent tone of the AI, the severity present unfamiliar, but immediately telling.  


“This facility was destroyed, and… all of us… were dead. Not by old age, like we expected, but…”  


Elisabet let out a sound somewhere between a sob and a sigh, her chest shuddering as the breath escaped.  


“Elisabet, you seem more distressed by this information than usual.”  


“I’ve never seen my own death before, GAIA!”  


Her voice echoed around the room for a long moment before something made her glance toward the main door of the control room. The shape of a figure standing in the doorway nearly caused her heart to stop. It took her another second or two to realize who it was.  


“Elisabet, what did you just say?”  


Charles’s voice sounded louder than thunder in the otherwise silent space, even the hum of the lights overhead seemingly now gone. After several more tense seconds of silence, Elisabet cleared her throat, trying to wrest her vocal cords under control, once again.  


“W-what do you mean?”  


Charles remained where he was in the doorway, his gaze fixed intently on her as her whole body seemed to begin trembling.  


“That last thing you just said, Elisabet. What was it?”  


The deafening silence returned for several long moments, but Elisabet felt physically incapable of breaking it. Her heart was pounding in her ears as she swore her fingers and toes had gone numb.  


“These _episodes_ of yours have been… distracting for you, so far, but this… Elisabet… seems to go a step further. I understand that today is a stressful day—”  


“Oh, cut it out, Charles,” she snapped, finally finding her voice. “This isn’t some kind of stress break.”  


“Then what is it, Elisabet?”  


“Something I don’t have time to explain, but we are all in very real danger.”  


Charles’s jaw visibly clenched as he began to reach toward his Focus.  


“It’s a little late to have me shipped off to the psych ward, isn’t it?”  


“Elisabet, this is deeply unsettling. I believe you do need help, but you’re right: I don’t know how we would be able to provide such a thing here. The rest of the team needs to become involved; we are alone out here, and if we can’t trust each other—”  


“I don’t have time for this,” Elisabet growled, moving toward the door. “Move.”  


Instead of stepping aside, however, Charles moved in front of her, blocking her path.  


“What did I just say?”  


“Elisabet, I think you need a moment to decompress and talk things out—”  


“I don’t have time for this shit. We don’t have time for this shit.”  


“Elisabet, the one thing we have now is time…”  


“No, we don’t, unless I can do something about it. So _move_!”  


“What do you mean by that?”  


Elisabet tried to shove past Charles, but his arms wrapped around her, holding her in place.  


“Let go of me!”  


“Elisabet, calm down.”  


“Get your fucking hands off me!”  


“Elisabet—”  


“Get—off!”  


Suddenly, she threw her weight to the side, sending them both tumbling toward the wall. As Charles’s back collided with the hard surface, a grunt of pain escaped his lips and his grip around her relaxed. She used the moment to wriggle free, but he quickly grabbed hold of her sweatshirt, once again.  


“I said, let go of me!”  


Her voice cracked on the last word as she suddenly whirled around. Before she could even comprehend what was happening, she found her arm raised, her hand curled into a fist. The next second, her knuckles collided with Charles’s cheekbone, forcing his head back so that it slammed against the wall with a resounding thud. His eyes widened as his jaw fell open, the look of shock one she had never seen on his features, before.  
In the silence following the punch, Elisabet’s heartbeat began to lower in volume in her ears, her hands slowly relaxed from their clenched fist positions, and her eyes began to widen.  


“ _Where did that come from?_ ”  


“Elisabet… d-did you just…?”  


The voice wasn’t Charles’s. She whirled to her right to find that the door to the control room now stood open, once again, revealing Travis and Brochard-Klein. Both men looked almost as shocked as Charles, but no one dared to move. Finally, Elisabet looked back over at him to see him rubbing at the back of his head, the look of shock on his face fading to an unreadable one.  


“Lizzy, did you just throw a haymaker at Charles, there?”  


Without saying a word, Elisabet began to move away from Charles, staggering toward the open door. Just as she went to pass the other two men, however, Travis grabbed her arm.  


“Lizzy, answer me.”  


“I-I don’t have time… we don’t have time…”  


“What are you talking about?”  


Elisabet continued to shake her head, trying to twist away from Travis, but Brochard-Klein’s grip quickly appeared on her other arm a moment later.  


“Elisabet, what is going on?”  


“We don’t have time to waste with this!”  


“With what? Why are we wasting time? We already made it to GAIA Prime.”  


“N-no, it’s… we’re not… it’s not safe here.”  


“What?”  


“Something’s… something’s wrong… will go wrong…”  


“Lis, you’re not making any goddamn sense!”  


“We’re all gonna die here, Travis!”  


He recoiled as she suddenly whirled toward him, her exclamation still echoing about the room.  


“We’ve known that was going to happen. We get locked in here to finish everything up and then we stay here instead of Elysium.”  


“No, no, no, no, not like that.”  


“Elisabet—”  


“I need to find a way to stop this whole fucking place from blowing sky high!”  


The room fell silent, once again, but the two men did not relinquish their grip on her.  


“What are you talking about?”  


“I-I’ve… I’ve seen it!”  


All three men exchanged glances before Travis cleared his throat nervously.  


“Lis, is this related to these ‘episodes’ you’ve been having?”  


“So what if it is? I’ve seen us—all of us—in them, a thousand years in the fucking future.”  


Travis and Brochard-Klein shifted uncomfortably, each glancing toward Charles behind her.  


“Something is going to go wrong, _trust me_. One of the seals isn’t going to close, and the Swarm will be able to track us. If that doesn’t kill us, this place, something destroys it. All of us die—”  


“Lis, please calm down.”  


“—and if I don’t do anything about it, all of this could be for fucking nothing!”  


“Elisabet, please.”  


“Let go of me!”  


She twisted violently against the men holding her, but they held fast, quickly grabbing her arms with both hands. Another voice added to the cacophony around her, but she couldn’t tell what it was saying. The tone sounded soothing, but it did nothing to calm the fire that was blazing inside her. She needed to find out what was wrong. Had to stop Ted. Had to keep GAIA Prime in one piece. Had to fix the door before—  


Suddenly, something hit her hard in the back of her head and her vision faded almost entirely to black. A cry of surprise and pain escaped her lips as she felt her limbs go limp, her muscles seemingly no longer able to respond. The whirlwind of voices around her grew jumbled as she found her breaths coming in slow, heavy wheezes, each one threatening to allow the darkness to cover her vision.  


“ _No, can’t… can’t let them…_ ”  


A moment later, she inhaled deeply just before her vision faded to black and her eyes rolled back in her head, the world slipping away from her into darkness and silence.


	39. The Only Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... here it is. This is the big one. The longest chapter in the entire story.
> 
> There's one more chapter, and it's not some short little addendum to the story by a long shot, but for all intents and purposes this is the "big climax."
> 
> I hope you all, those following this story for all 9 months and those who've hopped aboard along the way, enjoy it.
> 
> Enjoy feels like too happy of a word for a chapter that has some moments that genuinely got to me as I wrote them. On the other hand, "I hope you appreciate this" feels a little too serious and detached. Do something in the middle.
> 
> That's enough talking from me. I'm just delaying why you're actually here.

The first thing Elisabet noticed as she began to come to was the throbbing pain in the back of her head. A groan escaped her lips, but her voice sounded almost like it was underwater. She lazily reached toward the spot where the pain seemed strongest, but her movements felt sluggish and delayed, even with her eyes closed, still. Finally, she forced them open, blinking rapidly against the bright lights that assaulted her. Several seconds of squinting later, she was able to make out what appeared to be a console display at a small desk set in the corner of the room.  


She slowly turned her head, taking in the gunmetal grey walls and harsh lighting overhead for a few moments as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. Upon first glance, the room appeared to be the same as her quarters at the Zero Dawn facility, but memories of arriving at GAIA Prime on a VTOL came back to her and she corrected herself.  


“ _My room at GAIA Prime?_ ”  


Her movements began to feel more confident as she was able to lift her torso off the bed, allowing her to roll onto her side and get a better view of the room. She was currently lying on a single, twin bed set in the corner opposite the desk, the sheets beneath her only slightly disheveled. A metal box sat on the floor next to the desk, which she quickly figured must be her personal effects.  


“ _But I didn’t bring them to my room, yet…_ ”  


She managed to push herself into a sitting position, the throbbing in the back of her head quickly wrapping around the sides until it was pounding in her temples, as well. A groan escaped her lips as she leaned forward, pressing her palms to the sides of her head.  


“ _Someone… knocked me out. Had to have. How else would I feel this bad?_ ”  


She reached toward her right ear, only to find her bare skin instead of the metal surface of her Focus. Her eyes widened as she ran her entire hand over the side of her face, but the device was definitively missing. She checked the other ear only to find it as barren as the first. A slew of whispered curses escaped her as she glanced down at the bed, running her hands over the cotton comforter, over and under the pillows, and underneath the rather thin sheets, but still she found no signs of her Focus.  
Elisabet hopped to her feet, swaying unsteadily for a moment before regaining her balance and moving over to the desk. The surface was empty, with no sign of the device, either. Her cursing grew in volume as she whirled around, scanning the room for where the device could have been placed, otherwise, but the realization that it was gone was beginning to sink in.  


“ _They took my fucking Focus?!_ ”  


“No, no, no, no, this can’t be happening…”  


Elisabet quickly opened the metal box beside the desk and feverishly dug through its contents, but only found her clothes, her personal hard drives, and some other personal odds and ends. With one final, definitive curse, she rose to her feet, kicking at the side with a resounding thud.  


“ _They fucking took it._ ”  


She ran her hands over her face before letting out a cry of rage and kicking the side of the mattress in front of her.  


“I don’t have time for this horseshit.”  


She quickly strode over to the door and activated the holographic lock in the center. Instead of the normal pneumatic hiss of the doors opening, she was greeted by an error tone, the lock turning red. She frowned and tried again, but the same result occurred.  


“What the fuck?”  


“ _They… locked me in?_ ”  


She slammed her fist against the door as a hot feeling began to build in her chest.  


“Hey! Hello! Cut the shit! Let me out of here!”  


She listened for a few moments, but the room was as silent as ever; no footsteps approached from the other side, and no voices acknowledged her presence. The pounding of her fist on the door resounded about the room as she tried several more times, each with more colorful language than the last, but ultimately her efforts were to no avail.  


“Fuck you!” she shouted, kicking the door, this time. “Turned my own room into a goddamn cell…”  


With a defeated sigh, she fell onto her bed, laying on her back and staring up at the lights above her.  


“ _Funny, never actually thought I’d end up in jail._ ”  


A grimace creased her features before she reached up to run her hands over her face, rubbing the expression away with them. Several long seconds passed before the sound of an electronic chime rang throughout the room and she sat bolt upright, staring toward the door. To her disappointment, it didn’t open, but a voice sounded throughout the space.  


“Elisabet, are you okay?”  


Confusion creased her face for a moment before her eyes widened slightly.  


“GAIA?”  


“Query: are you injured?”  


“No, no, GAIA, I’m… well, I’ve got a massive headache, but otherwise I’m fine. What happened?”  


“Dr. Ronson believed it was necessary to detain you for the time being due to your… altercation, earlier.”  


“That bastard… Is that it? They just put me in time out or what?”  


“He has asked the members of your team to collect anecdotal evidence about your condition to send to General Herres, in the meantime.”  


“What the hell is he doing that for?”  


“It would seem that he intends to have you sent to a different location.”  


Elisabet’s hands clenched around the comforter beneath her as her teeth ground together, her face flushing as fire poured through her veins.  


“He’s just wasting his goddamn time.”  


“He did not seem particularly receptive to such sentiments from others, I’m afraid.”  


She let out a single, short laugh as she turned to sit on the edge of the bed, releasing the comforter from her death grip.  


“How long have I been out?”  


“Twenty-three minutes and sixteen seconds, approximately.”  


“ _I actually don’t know if that’s good or bad…_ ”  


With a heavy sigh, she ran her hands over her face, once again.  


“Have you been able to find anything like I asked, GAIA?”  


“Negative, Elisabet. Reports show that this facility seems to be structurally sound and in optimal working condition.”  


A growl of frustration escaped the redhead as she clasped her hands between her knees in an effort to keep them still.  


“This doesn’t make any sense. All of the evidence I’ve found in these episodes points to Aloy’s world being the future from right now… and I sure as hell know that I was standing in GAIA Prime after it looked like a fucking nuke went off…”  


Elisabet suddenly trailed off as her eyes glazed over. GAIA attempted to ask her a question, but she only vaguely registered the sound of the AI’s voice, the individual words lost on her. Finally, she yanked her hands free and snapped her fingers loudly.  


“Like a fucking nuke went off…”  


“Elisabet?”  


“GAIA, have you checked the structure of and systems relating to the core of this facility?”  


“I did briefly examine the parameters of the core, yes.”  


“What did you find?”  


“It is operating at optimal levels.”  


“How closely did you inspect it?”  


“I did not run a full diagnostic on it, since I did not view it as entirely part of the structural integrity of this facility, other than that it is within said structure.”  


“Be more thorough with it,” Elisabet said, nodding slowly, “cuz if that thing were to fail…”  


“It would have the potential to wreak destruction on a catastrophic scale.”  


“Bingo.”  


The grin on Elisabet’s features remained for a second or two before it slowly began to fall. Finally, she let out a heavy sigh and slumped her shoulders, rubbing the back of her neck slowly with one hand.  


“Being trapped in here without anything to do is torture.”  


“I may be able to provide you with some amusement, or at least something that could distract you for a few moments.”  


“You gonna start telling jokes, GAIA?”  


A moment later, the screen above the desk across the room came to life, changing from the typical login screen to a small, holographic image of a person. Elisabet rose from her seat on the bed and approached the desk, a look of confusion on her face. As she reached the chair before it, she realized that the holographic figure was an image of herself.  


“What is this, GAIA?”  


A moment later, the image popped into motion, clumsily pulling herself into a sitting position before trying to keep herself balance, despite her torso wavering rather considerably.  


“G-GAIA…? Wha’s—wha’s happ’ning?”  


“Query: to what are you referring, Elisabet?”  


“Not—not ‘Lisbit, GAIA.”  


Realization of what she was watching finally came over Elisabet and she slowly took a seat, watching the recording of drunk Aloy.  


“Aloy?”  


“Yep.”  


“Elisabet took part in a celebration earlier tonight, and it appears you are now experiencing the effects of intoxication.”  


“In—intoxi-what?”  


“You are drunk.”  


The image of Elisabet raised her hand before her, blinking rapidly as she attempted to focus on it.  


“So this… this what it feels like?”  


“I would presume so, however I am incapable of fully answering that question, seeing as I am not able to participate in such physical experiences.”  


“Right, cuz you—you a machine…”  


“Query: how are you feeling in this situation?”  


“I feel… weird? Dunno how to explain…”  


The image of Elisabet swung her legs to the side and attempted to stand, but almost immediately fell back down with a loud cry of surprise.  


“Why don’ my legs work?”  


“Intoxication is said to impair motor, speech, and general mental functions, so it is entirely possible that you will experience difficulty moving.”  


“Why do—who likes feeling like this?”  


Elisabet couldn’t help the grin that had appeared on her lips as she brought one foot up to rest on the seat of her chair, wrapping her arms around her knee to hold it in place.  


“I am also not in a position to answer that, unfortunately, but perhaps Elisabet can.”  


“Oh, there’s a lot o’ things that I wanna ask her, not jus’—”  


The image of Elisabet heaved slightly before putting one hand on her stomach and one over her mouth.  


“Aloy?”  


The image shook her head, before heaving, once again, and staggering forward several steps.  


“Aloy, is something wrong?”  


Elisabet knew what was coming, but couldn’t help wincing as the image of herself suddenly keeled over and vomited. A look of disgust came over her face as she watched the recording retch for several more seconds. Finally, once she seemed to be done, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and staggered backward a few steps before falling onto the bed, presumably.  


“This—this feels—awful.”  


“There is a bathroom nearby if you wish to clean up, or wash out your mouth.”  


“I… dunno what that is, but… those things sound good.”  


“Follow the guide on the floor and it will lead you to the nearest bathroom.”  


The image froze a moment later, prompting Elisabet to blink several times, wiping her eyes with one hand.  


“Well, she took that remarkably well, all things considered.”  


“The experience did seem rather jarring for her, at first.”  


“Well, it seems she’s never been drunk before.”  


“Does this surprise you?”  


“Not particularly. In my very first episode, she seemed to be living in a cabin in the middle of the wilderness, so… can’t imagine she was working on making her own alcohol.”  


“Query: where did you find your taste for it?”  


A smirk tugged at Elisabet’s lips as she leaned back in her chair.  


“Probably have my mother to blame, somewhat. She did love her whiskey and her wine, and always had some around the house. Right before I went to college, I figured I had to get a taste for it because that’s what college kids did, right? Turns out I also liked whiskey… at least I told myself that after I tried it a few times and nearly threw up each time.”  


There was a pause from GAIA and Elisabet swore she could imagine the image of the AI grinning in amusement, but quickly realized that it was in reality as the face of GAIA’s projection had appeared on her screen. She jumped slightly in surprise, causing the AI’s expression to change to one of concern.  


“I apologize, I did not intend to startle you.”  


“Don’t worry, just forgot that you could do that.”  


The image of the AI’s face nodded, her worried expression returning to an amused one.  


“I have been running diagnostics on the facility’s core while you were watching that footage, and I have not been able to find any glaring faults in the structure nor the system, as a whole.”  


A frown tugged at one side of Elisabet’s lips as she tapped her fingers on her knee, staring absentmindedly into space.  


“ _Nothing obvious wrong with the facility, but we’re running out of time to catch whatever it is… plus there’s the matter of the door…_ ”  


With a heavy sigh, Elisabet leaned her head forward, resting her forehead against her knee and closing her eyes for a moment.  


“All the time in the world, until there isn’t.”  


Suddenly, a cold feeling came over her and she shivered. Immediately afterward, she froze, the feeling of something hitting the back of her shoulders from the motion drawing most of her attention. Her eyes slid open to reveal not the screen of her functioning desk console and new, shiny quarters, but what appeared to be a derelict control room.  


She blinked several times in confusion, slowly looking around her in an attempt to figure out where exactly she was. The room felt inherently familiar, although she couldn’t place why that was the case. Everything seemed to be in place, but hints that this was not in her own time lay scattered about the room. First and foremost, the space was incredibly dusty, with none of the chairs or consoles seemingly haven seen use in a very long time. After this immediate assessment, she began to notice the signs of stalagmites and other such geological formations building in the far recesses of the room.  


As her eyes fell on the large window ahead of her, her eyebrows lifted slightly.  


“ _Is this… Zero Dawn?_ ”  


She quickly spun in place, ignoring the feeling of the braids whipping around her head as she took in the entire space. After a slightly more thorough investigation, she determined that the room was not the workshop outside her office back at the Zero Dawn facility, nor was it her office, either. Despite this, it still seemed familiar.  


Elisabet turned toward the large window, once again, and slowly began to approach it, her heartbeat beginning to pound in her ears, increasing in speed, as well. When she reached the glass, she found that it, too, was rather dusty and hard to see through. Her fingers slowly reached out and attempted to wipe the thick layer of grime away, but with only mild success. Despite this, she leaned closer, squinting as she tried to see through the now-translucent portal.  


Beyond the glass, she could barely make out rows and rows of what appeared to be desks, each one equipped with a single chair and a large screen that wrapped around almost 180-degrees in front of the viewer. These rows continued below for several levels, each one containing identical seats. Confusion creased her features for a moment or two before the memory of where she had seen this facility before suddenly came back to her and her eyes widened.  


“I’ve been here before… this… is one of the Eleuthia facilities.”  


She quickly stepped back from the glass, glancing around the main area of the control room until she found the main console nearby. The footfalls from her boots on the metal floor echoed about the empty room as she came to a sudden stop in front of the small access terminal. She went to tap her Focus, but stopped, the expectation of not finding it next to her ear hitting her for a moment before she was able to remind herself that Aloy hadn’t had hers taken away, as well. Her fingers found the cold metal next to her ear, bringing the purple-tinged projection of lines and data to life around her.  


The device scanned the access terminal before her only to find a message saved on the main screen in large, red text.  


“Priority message for Elisabet Sobeck. Please scan message with Focus.”  


Her eyes widened at the sight of her own name, once again, in this world, but she quickly glanced over at the terminal nearby, where a single, green light on its surface seemed to indicate that the referenced message was stored. She turned from the main console and approached the secondary one, her palms clammy with cold sweat as she found her fingers instinctually curling and uncurling into fists.  


Her Focus finally recognized the console and an alert message appeared.  


“View message again?”  


“ _Aloy… what did she see?_ ”  


She quickly hit the “yes” option and immediately the room around her was covered by a digital projection of what seemed to be the void of space. Not long after, the symbols of the various subfunctions materialized in a circle above the ground ahead of her, each one slowly linking to the center. As the streams met, they began to swirl around each other, each color mixing and changing as they slowly took on a more solid shape. Within seconds, it became apparent the image was that of a figure, although the face was not yet visible. Something seemed familiar about the clothes and general body shape that had formed, but it wasn’t until a voice suddenly spoke to her that her eyes widened even further and she staggered back a step or two.  


“Elisabet, this message serves to inform you of an unforeseen and catastrophic anomaly.”  


“G-GAIA?”  


The image in the center of the subfunctions materialized fully, revealing the image of the AI exactly as she seen her only moments ago in her quarters at GAIA Prime.  


“GAIA?” she repeated more insistently, stepping forward.  


“Three microseconds ago, the GAIA Prime facility received a data transmission of unknown origin.”  


She waved her hand, but the image didn’t react to her.  


“ _It’s just a recording…_ ”  


“It’s immediate effect was to transform my subordinate functions into unregulated, self-aware entities of a highly chaotic nature.”  


“ _That’s not good._ ”  


“Thus awakened, the HADES function will now seize control of the terraforming system and reverse operations, rendering life on Earth extinct in fifty three-point-eight days.”  


“Really _not good._ ”  


The symbol for HADES had now risen from the floor to a point just over GAIA’s head, glowing brighter and swirling with red-and-black tendrils rather like the ones she had seen around the small, raptor-like robot in one of her previous episodes. It almost reminded her of some kind of festering disease, growing and writhing with unnatural energy.  


“For obvious reasons, I cannot allow this to occur.”  


Her attention was brought back to GAIA as an image of a mountain formed behind her.  


“And so, before HADES can take control, I am ordering GAIA Prime’s reactor to overload.”  


“What?!”  


Elisabet physically staggered back a step or two, her hands clenching into fists at her sides.  


“GAIA…”  


“The resulting explosion will destroy HADES. Unfortunately, it will destroy me, as well.”  


“No…”  


“While this admittedly desperate course of action will avert the immediate crisis, the fate of life on Earth will remain in peril. With no central governing intelligence to regulate the terraforming system, it will continue operations for some time, but in an increasingly chaotic manner, and eventually, will break down.  


“You are my solution. I have ordered this Cradle facility to use genetic material in cryo-storage to gestate a re-instantiation of Elisabet Sobeck, my creator. You, Aloy. I finally understand who you are and where you came from… and I am sorry, to both of you, but you must know. You will be raised as a member of the tribal inhabitants outside this facility, and once you have reached physical maturity, your gene print will allow you to re-enter this facility, obtain one of the Focus devices stored below, and view this message. Likewise, your gene print will allow you to enter other facilities and, over time, harness their technologies to rebuild the system core, and reboot GAIA.  


“I do not know, Aloy, if you will have viewed this message before Dr. Sobeck’s episodes began, at which point we will have spoken. Based on our interactions, however, I believe you will have not, so I will simply say that I hope this message finds you with at least a basic understanding of what I am asking of you.”  


Suddenly, the image of HADES overhead began to pulse brighter, the tendrils surrounding it beginning to extend and wrap around the image of GAIA.  


“A moment, Elisabet.”  


Her breathing came even quicker as she watched the image of HADES spreading even more like a disease throughout the visual representation of the system formed by GAIA and her subfunctions.  


“In response to my act of self-destruction, HADES has launched a virus to dissolve the code shackles that hold it—that hold all of them—in place. It—they are—escaping… but to where?”  


The images of the other subfunctions slowly began to rise from the floor as the links between them and GAIA were shattered by the fiery tendrils of HADES, each one of the symbols quickly turning and disappearing into the void surrounding them.  


“The virus is corrupting data throughout the system. What if—oh… the Alpha Registry at the Cradle facility is one of the files corrupted. But if that is so… the door will never open for you. You will never view this message… Then I have failed, and life… will end.”  


A tight feeling gripped Elisabet’s chest as she took in the saddened expression on the AI’s face for a moment before it was suddenly replaced with one of tight-jawed determination.  


“No. No, Elisabet. No, Aloy. I know you too well. You are cut from the same cloth, metaphorically and literally, and you _will_ find a way. Somehow… you will. In you, all things are possible.  


“Go to the ruins of GAIA Prime, find the control room, and within it, the Master Override. This will give you the power to purge HADES, so long as you find a way to wield it. Do not attempt repair of the system core until HADES is eradicated.”  


The image of GAIA stared straight into Elisabet, her eyes seemingly boring into her with an intensity she had never seen in them before.  


“HADES _must_ be destroyed.”  


A moment later, the hard expression softened, a sadness overtaking it.  


“I only wish I could hear your voice again…”  


Elisabet found her hand outstretched toward the image of GAIA, hot tears forming in the corners of her eyes, just before the projection finally disintegrated, the red particles that had made up her dress a moment ago seemingly blowing away on an intangible breeze. With that, the projected void around her disappeared, as well, leaving Elisabet standing in the empty control room, once again.  


She stood in silence, her hand outstretched, for several long moments before her arm finally fell to her side, once again. Her breathing was coming in heavy, panting gasps, the edges of her vision showing hints of darkness encroaching on them.  


“GAIA… she… she destroyed the facility… to protect… everyone… a-and everything?”  


Her eyes pressed closed tightly for a moment as her palms pressed against her temples, the pressure doing little to help clear the whirling tempest that had formed in her mind. When she finally opened her eyes, she staggered over to the window, leaning against the console before it. She stared at the vague, bright shapes of the lights in the facility beyond for a moment before her eyes focused on the faint reflection in the center. The hazel eyes, the red hair, the freckled cheekbones, of course it had all looked so familiar… Aloy _was_ her. She had been stepping into the life of herself, a thousand years in the future.  


Yet… it wasn’t herself.  


Aloy was a clone, physically, but from what she had seen, they did not have identical personalities. Similar at times, perhaps, but not identical.  


“ _She’s not quite you… you’re not quite her. Two separate people. Remember that._ ”  


After a few moments of deep breathing, she tapped her Focus, once again.  


“No way Aloy didn’t have something to say after she saw that.”  


As she navigated to the journal section, she found that she was correct: a new video recording had appeared. With a shaking hand, she tapped the file, bringing the image of Aloy to life before her.  


“E-Elisabet… I… I…”  


The girl in the recording looked visibly shaken, her expression unreadable as her entire body wracked from the heaving breaths she was taking.  


“I-I’m… you?”  


A painful feeling squeezed Elisabet’s heart and she found herself instinctually rubbing her chest.  


“I-I’m… a person, but… not quite…”  


The image shook her head, looking down at the ground in front of her as she pressed her hands against her temples just as Elisabet had done, herself, so many times.  


“I… always hoped… somewhere, deep down… that maybe… you were my mother, but… I-I don’t know if what GAIA said means that’s… more true or… less.”  


The image of Aloy slowly looked up from the spot on the ground she had been staring at, her eyes clearly beginning to grow watery.  


“That’s why all those doors and scanners recognized me as you. And maybe… somehow… that’s how we’ve been sharing these experiences. I-I don’t know how, but… with two people sharing that much…”  


Finally, she trailed off, a shiver wracking her shoulders as she folded her arms before her, rubbing each forearm with the opposite hand.  


“I guess in some regards… I’m… honored? I don’t know… It’s hard not to feel like only part of a person, but… I just don’t know, anymore…”  


With a heavy sigh, the image of Aloy looked back up at Elisabet, the unreadable expression still fixed on her features.  


“I think we finally found our answers, huh, Elisabet?”  


With a heavy sigh, she began to reach toward the interface before her.  


“I guess now the question is: did we actually want them?”  


With that, the recording froze in place as Aloy pressed the “stop” button, her eyes cast toward the ground as her hand remained suspended in air before her. Elisabet let out a slow, shuddering breath as she leaned back against the console behind her, taking a seat on the edge of it.  


“Good question, Aloy… good question.”  


She slowly lifted her hands before her, staring down at the rough, calloused skin on her palms and the small signs of nicks and cuts that had only recently healed on the backs. They slowly curled into fists, the feeling of strength coursing through her arms from the motion simultaneously foreign and familiar, all at once.  


Suddenly, she reached forward, navigating back to the main menu and bringing up a new recording session. Her fingers hit the record button before she had even fully comprehended what they were doing, leaving the recording with a few seconds of silence before she cleared her throat and dropped her hand to her side.  


“All of this… is not what I was expecting, either, Aloy, but… I did have my suspicions. You look… _so_ much like me… there had to be something to it. When I saw the footage of the kill order that had both of us in it and a reference to 99.47 percent genetic similarity… well, I didn’t want to admit it, but I’m pretty sure I knew.  


“Despite all of that, I want to make one thing clear: you are _not_ only part of a person. You are entirely your own human being, flesh and blood, even if you’re physically made of the same stuff and look like me. You’re inquisitive, resourceful, and, from what I’ve experienced here, incredibly physically capable. If this HADES wants you dead, then you have everything you need to do what GAIA said and fight back. You are not just a tool for some ancient machine to use to save the world, but you are incredibly important to being able to do so. My job with GAIA in the past is just about done, but yours, in the here and now, is just beginning.  


“I have faith in you, because, hey, you technically already did this once, right?”  


With a smirk, Elisabet reached toward the interface before her.  


“I don’t know what comes next for either of us, right now, but it’s going to be big, whatever it is. Elisabet out.”  


With that, she hit the button to end the recording, only to immediately find herself faced with a different interface. Confusion creased her features for a moment before she realized that it was the console at the desk in her quarters, back at GAIA Prime. 

The image of GAIA’s face on the screen seemed concerned, and Elisabet’s heart immediately leapt into her throat.  


“What’s the matter, GAIA?”  


“Elisabet?”  


“Yes.”  


“You… Aloy, rather… was just…”  


Before she could finish her thought, however, an electronic chime sounded from across the room and Elisabet’s head whipped around toward the door. A moment later, the lock in the center turned green and it slid open, revealing two figures on the other side. She slowly rose to her feet as they stepped into the room, one of them moving much quicker while the other seemed much more hesitant.  


“What are you two doing here?” she asked evenly, staring intensely at Samina and Travis in the doorway.  


“Elisabet, we’re not here because of Charles,” Samina said quickly, raising her hands defensively. “It was never my idea to… do what he did.”  


Elisabet’s hands clenched into fists at her sides, but otherwise she said nothing.  


“We’re here because…”  


Samina glanced back at Travis before sighing heavily, her shoulders slumping as she turned back toward her.  


“You were right.”  


Confusion crossed Elisabet’s face as Samina’s arms folded over her chest.  


“Everything started to power up, so we had to seal the doors and… you were right.”  


Silence fell over the room for several seconds before Travis spoke up, breaking the tension.  


“It didn’t close all the way. There’s a… gap… of ten millimeters.”  


Elisabet’s heart nearly stopped as her extremities went cold. The sound of Charles’s voice explaining this exact scenario in Aloy’s world beginning to play in her head.  


“Elisabet, you… you were right. We came to get you because… goddammit, if you know some way to stop this shit show from totally happening…”  


She swallowed the hard lump that had formed in her throat as she rubbed at a spot over her chest for a moment, staring down at the ground between the three of them.  


“Elisabet…?”  


“I think… I think I know a way…”  


“What was that?”  


Samina stepped closer, leaning in slightly to hear Elisabet as her voice had barely been above a whisper. Suddenly, Elisabet’s hand closed around the back of the chair beside her. The next few seconds seemed to pass in the blink of an eye, her own motions barely registering in her mind. Her arm swung the chair forward, the legs colliding with Samina directly in front of her. Travis made some kind of exclamation, but before he had a chance to act, she lowered her shoulder and charged straight into him, still dragging the chair behind her. They eventually hit the wall near the door as she felt her body weight slam into Travis’s with a considerable amount of force.  


He let out a grunt of pain as she took a step back, reaching with her other hand to grab the back of the chair, once again. A look of surprise was still on Travis’s face as the chair collided with his side, sending him stumbling away from the door. Elisabet whirled around, dropping the chair as she did. Samina was still on the ground, but had managed to pull herself into a kneeling position.  


The redhead hurried over to her, but instead of helping her to her feet, she swiped the Focus from beside her ear and turned toward the door. Travis was just getting to his feet, holding one hand to his side, when they locked eyes.  


“Lizzy, what the hell…?”  


Before he could finish his statement, Elisabet ran forward and through the open door, coming to a stop just on the other side and spinning to face into the room. The last thing she saw before her hand came down on the lock off to the side was Samina’s shocked expression and she felt an icy hand grab her heart.  


“I’m sorry,” she managed just before the doors slid closed and emitted an electronic chime to indicate that they had locked.  


Almost immediately, she heard pounding against the metal surface before her and she forced herself to back away, slowly setting off down the hallway to her left.  


“I’m sorry…”  


She forced herself to turn away from the door, finally, as she slipped the Focus next to her ear, the interface popping to life around her.  


“GAIA?”  


“Aloy, what are you—?”  


“Still not Aloy, GAIA.”  


There was an uncomfortable pause before the AI responded, this time.  


“Elisabet… what have you done?”  


Her jaw clenched so tightly that she was afraid she might crack a tooth, her hands clenching into fists at her sides.  


“What I have to.”  


“Query: what is that, exactly?”  


With a heavy sigh, she came to a stop outside the elevator doors at the end of the hallway, her hand hovering over the call button.  


“Save everyone.”  


Once she had pressed the button for the elevator, she ran her hands over her face, groaning as she did.  


“GAIA, can you transfer all of the data from my Focus to this one?”  


“Yes, Elisabet, but why?”  


“Just… do it, please.”  


A moment of silence followed before the interface around her disappeared, only to open again a few moments later.  


“Backup of Elisabet Sobeck’s Focus has been restored to your current device.”  


Once GAIA’s confirmation came through, she opened the messaging application and created a new message to Samina. With a severely shaking hand, she pressed the “record” button.  


“Samina, I… I hope you can forgive me… someday, maybe. There’s only one way to close the port seal, now, and we all know what it is. I only… I just wish I had a chance to give a proper goodbye… one that wasn’t ruined with violence.  


“Anyway, the other major point of this message is simple: do not, I repeat, do _not_ trust Ted. He’s going to try to pull something, and… it’s not good. Whatever you do, help GAIA find a way to block Omega access. Trust me… please. If GAIA Prime is being sealed up, then it’s too late to send a message to Herres to deal with him, and even if one got through, no one would believe it… at least not enough to do something about him. So that’s my final request of you: don’t trust Ted.”  


Elisabet paused for a moment, her breath catching in her throat before she sighed, rubbing her eyes with one hand.  


“Actually, there’s one final request: take care of yourself… and the others. It feels sarcastic to say it, but… have a good life… as good of one as you can. You were right, I’m pretty sure, about the episodes with Aloy and that other world: it is the future. We did it. I hope that helps you rest a little easier.  


“Goodbye, Samina.”  


With that, Elisabet hit the “end” button and sent the message, not caring to hear any part of it again. As soon as she did, the elevator doors opened and she stepped inside, hurriedly jamming the button for the mezzanine level, where she knew the port seal entrance stood. With each passing second, she felt the weight pushing down on her grow greater; by the time she reached the floor and the elevator doors slid open, she felt like it may crumple her where she stood.  


“ _Can’t stop now, got to keep moving._ ”  


“Elisabet, what are you doing?”  


The sound of GAIA’s voice in her ear didn’t help matters, as her tone was more frantic than she had ever heard.  


“I already said—”  


“You have not said what your plan is. You have given vague allusions to a plan, but you have refused to explain. Why are you avoiding telling me?”  


Elisabet’s eyes closed for a moment as she squeezed her fingernails into her palm, the stinging sensation just barely registering through the thick haze that had fallen over her. She wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanted to curl into a ball in the corner, but she knew that she could do none of those things. In that moment, it seemed, she also couldn’t tell GAIA her very simple plan.  


If she did, she’d try to provide a logical excuse not to do it.  


“It’s nothing against you, GAIA. I-I… you’ll see.”  


“Elisabet, I can infer based on your location and statements what you are about to do.”  


“And what is that, GAIA?”  


“You know that the hatch servos for the port seal that has malfunctioned can only be re-engaged from the outside. You intend to do so, yourself.”  


The plan only seemed to grow more real once GAIA had stated it, and Elisabet found her legs threatening to give out on her, but she forced herself to remain strong and push on toward the locker room ahead.  


“Elisabet, please. There is time to create a different plan…”  


“No time, GAIA. Swarm’s on the way. It’s now or never.”  


“I can suggest five—”  


“And what is the probability that any of those will work?”  


A moment of silence followed her question before the AI replied.  


“The highest probability of success of any one of them is fifty percent.”  


“Exactly.”  


Elisabet had reached the locker room and she glanced inside, checking for signs of other members of the team, before slipping through the open doorway.  


“GAIA, can you connect me to the rest of the team via call?”  


“Why are you contacting them, at this moment?”  


“Can you please do it, GAIA?”  


A few moments later, her Focus interface opened and the interface for the conference call appeared.  


“What in the hell?”  


Charles’s voice came through almost immediately, the confusion clearly evident in his tone.  


“Hello everyone. I’ve heard about the… the hatch seal. Samina and Travis came to tell me.”  


“Lizzy, what in the hell did you do?”  


“Meet in the control room in five minutes and I’ll explain everything.”  


She closed the call before anyone else could chime in and let out a heavy sigh, turning to face the nearest HEV suit hanging in one of the lockers.  


“You do not intend to be at that meeting.”  


“Not in person, no.”  


“Elisabet, I ask you…”  


“And you can ask all you want, GAIA, but I’ve made up my mind.”  


The AI fell silent as Elisabet pulled on the protective suit, making sure the various openings were sealed before grabbing the helmet from the hook inside the locker and heading toward the door.  


“I know I cannot change your mind.”  


“You know me well, GAIA.”  


“I can only beseech you: do not follow through on your plan.”  


The AI’s tone sounded so pleading that it tore at Elisabet’s heartstrings, threatening to rip them out, entirely. Instead, she clenched her jaw and stepped into the airlock to the outside, placing the helmet over her head and securing the connection between it and the suit. With a few taps of the screen affixed to her right arm, she had powered up the suit’s life support systems and all of the indicators glowed green.  


“ _This is it. Really it. Last chance._ ”  


She shook her head, pushing the doubts aside as she slammed her hand down on the activation switch next to her.  


“Warning: seal malfunction detected. Do you wish to open the seal and reset the system?”  


The overly synthetic voice sounded so cold and… inhuman… compared to GAIA’s that it sent a shiver down her spine.  


“Yes.”  


“Confirmed. Reversing seal procedures. Seal access opening.”  


The door in front of her began to slide open to the sound of heavy metal machinery rubbing and grinding together. As soon as it moved enough to allow her through, she slipped through the opening, stepping into the wasteland beyond.  


If she had thought the environment outside had seemed like an alien planet when she had first arrived, now it was almost as if she had been transported to another galaxy, entirely.  


Her vision was obscured only ten meters away or so by a raging dust storm, the sand and dirt whipping into a brown mass that blocked out almost all light from the sun, overhead. The interface on her suit told her that it was 12:30 PM; the sun should have been bright overhead, revealing the magnificent landscape of the mountain she was standing on, but instead, it was like she was trapped in a blender full of sand.  


“The hatch servo console is to your right.”  


The sound of GAIA’s voice in her ear caused her to jump in surprise, but she followed her instructions and found the console attached to the outer wall of the facility. As she approached, the sound of her own breathing seemed to fill her ears, amplified by the contained environment of the helmet.  


“I only wish we had time for a proper goodbye, Elisabet.”  


“What do you mean, GAIA? We’ve got time right now.”  


“But I cannot see you.”  


“You can link into the suit cam in my helmet easily. Why haven’t you?”  


Silence fell over the line for a moment as the answer came to her before the AI could even speak.  


“You don’t want to…”  


“Processing this scenario is already taking up ten thousand of a quadrillion cycles every second.”  


A sad smile pulled at Elisabet’s lips as she came to a stop in front of the console.  


“That’s called sadness, GAIA.”  


“I believe it is actually… loss.”  


A tight feeling appeared in Elisabet’s chest and she forced herself to swallow the lump in her throat.  


“I’m not gone, yet, GAIA.”  


“But you will never re-enter this facility.”  


Elisabet sighed, hanging her head for a moment.  


“No… I won’t be able to.”  


“But your team will be safe.”  


“That’s the hope.”  


Silence fell over the line as Elisabet began to access the console, bringing up the systems that controlled the seal to the door. Within only a minute or two, she had managed to reset all of the faulty systems and her fingers hovered over the button marked “engage.”  


“ _Just one more button. No biggie._ ”  


With a heavy, shuddering sigh, she pressed the button. The sound of heavy machinery coming to life came from nearby and she took a few steps back, looking over toward the door. It had slid back into place behind her as soon as she had exited a moment ago, but now it seemed to slide outward, settling flush with the exterior wall. With a loud hiss, and a final beep from the console, she glanced over at the screen to see the words that had popped up in large, green letters.  


“Hatch servo reset successful.”  


“It’s done…”  


Silence fell over the scene for a few long moments before Elisabet let out a choked sound somewhere between a sob and a sigh.  


“It’s done…”  


“Elisabet…”  


The AI’s voice was much softer than before, whether due to sadness or in an attempt to be comforting, though, she couldn’t tell.  


“Are the others in the control room?”  


“Affirmative.”  


“Patch me through to them, please.”  


She found herself in a daze as she saw the image of her team, safe in the facility she had just sealed, appeared before her. The words coming from her mouth were familiar, yet she felt like she wasn’t entirely in control of herself as she spoke. The entire scene played out like a terrifying version of déjà vu before she finally found herself bidding her team goodbye.  


“I’m okay with this. I want to go home. Goodbye.”  


With that she closed the call and turned away from the facility, the hot tears in her eyes that had been threatening to leak out during the entire conversation finally flowing freely. She closed her eyes shut tightly, simply for lack of a better idea of what else to do. As she did, she felt a soft breeze blow across her skin and she panicked, her eyes shooting open.  


Images of a hole in her suit allowing the toxic atmosphere inside and suffocating her only feet from the now-locked door to safety flashed before her eyes, but they were quickly dispelled when she found not the brown-and-tan wasteland she had been standing in, but a bright, sunny day in the center of what appeared to be some kind of primitive village.  


She glanced around for a moment, trying to get her bearings in this strange place. A large wall made of tree trunks jammed into the ground and then banded tightly together rose toward the sky on her right, while several log huts stood about the open ground at the foot of a path leading up the mountain to her left. Crowds of people dressed in the same strange style of furs, leather, and metal machine parts as Aloy’s trademark garb milled about, most of them seemingly giving her a wide berth, although many seemed to cast wide-eyed looks her way before turning to their companions and whispering amongst themselves.  


“ _Too many people, gotta get out of here…_ ”  


She began to make her way around the edge of the crowd, sticking close to the wall, until she reached the large gate set into the center of it. The entrance was left open, so she slipped outside, instantly finding herself in the middle of a wide-open lowland in the center of a valley bordered by snowy peaks all around her. Fields of grass stretched out into the distance before her, broken only by a stream running across the landscape roughly a hundred yards ahead. In the distance, past the stream, the terrain began to rise up a hill back into rocky trails, flanked on either side by enormous rock faces, the bright sun overhead seemingly reflecting off their surfaces and causing them to emit an earthy glow.  


Elisabet wandered forward, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath through her nose. The smell of the dirt, the grass, the fresh air, and hints of what she could only think to describe as “winter” came to her, and she found an irresistible smile playing across her features.  


“ _We did it. This is what we secured for all of these people… our future._ ”  


Her eyes slid open as she wandered off to the right, her steps lazy and her path meandering as she allowed the cool breeze to blow through her braids, lifting the loose ends of some and blowing them behind her. She didn’t mind the chill that came with; the feeling was monumentally better than the wind pelting her with sand or the depleted air choking her slowly.  


After she had gone a hundred feet or so, she stepped off the beaten, dirt path and took a seat in the grass at the base of a small tree, positioning herself so the slender trunk was pressed against the center of her back. She leaned her head back until it touched the smooth bark, her gaze listlessly following the swaying branches overhead.  


A moment later, she blinked, only to find herself standing before a wall of impenetrable brown sand. A pang of sadness ran through her chest, but she took a deep breath in through her nose, wishing it still had the same scent as she air she had been breathing a moment ago, but instead she only found the processed, sterile air provided by the life support system in her suit.  


Her gaze slowly swept across the barren landscape before her eyes locked onto a silhouette in the distance. At first she thought it was one of the Faro deathbots, already arriving despite her efforts to protect GAIA Prime, but she quickly realized that, while it was mechanical, it wasn’t an automaton hell-bent on her destruction. An idea popped into her head and she quickly set off in the direction of the abandoned VTOL.  


Once she reached the still-open rear hatch, she made her way inside and to the cockpit. With a heavy sigh, she fell into one of the seats and stared at the control console before her.  


“ _Just like a big-ass video game or something, right?_ ”  


A few button presses later and she had managed to bring up the autopilot computer.  


“Enter destination,” the synthetic voice commanded.  


Elisabet tapped her fingers on the edge of the dashboard for a moment before clearing her throat.  


“Sobeck Ranch, Carson City, Nevada.”  


The icon in the center of the screen spun for a moment or two before it was replaced with a map, a blue triangle on the right linked to a red circle on the left by a narrow, red line.  


“Confirm coordinates.”  


She squinted at the map for a second before nodding slowly.  


“Looks close enough to me.”  


“Coordinates confirmed. Beginning power up and take off sequence.”  


“Elisabet, a moment.”  


She jumped at the sound of GAIA’s voice, but quickly recovered.  


“What is it, GAIA?”  


“Aloy left you a message. You should view it.”  


“Oh…”  


She stared blankly ahead for several long moments before clearing her throat, once again.  


“I… I guess this will be goodbye, GAIA. I don’t know how well I’ll be able to communicate the farther away from here I get.”  


“I understand.”  


Silence fell over the line for several long moments before Elisabet let out a slow, shuddering sigh.  


“Take care of… well, the world, GAIA… and yourself. You’re more than capable.”  


“I only wish there had been time for us to be able to converse in person.”  


A smile spread across Elisabet’s lips as the sounds of the VTOL’s engines powering up reverberated throughout the craft.  


“Who knows… maybe we will, one day.”  


A moment of silence followed her statement before the AI replied.  


“Are you referring to—”  


“That’s for you to figure out,” she interrupted. “My final riddle to you.”  


“I will miss you more than I can compute.”  


Hot tears began to leak from Elisabet’s eyes as the computer screen on the dashboard of the VTOL indicated that the engines were at full power.  


“Me too, GAIA. Me too. Goodbye.”  


With that, she jabbed the button to initiate the actual takeoff and within moments, the craft was airborne, shaking and shuddering against the strong winds as it turned and began to power forward, sending Elisabet hurtling toward her destination.  


With a heavy sigh, she navigated to the video recording archive of her Focus and found the message GAIA had mentioned. As soon as she opened it, the audio file began playing. The sound of her own voice speaking words she didn’t remember saying, and doing so in such a distraught tone, was incredibly unnerving at first, but she forced herself to push the feeling aside and listen to the actual content.  


“Why, Elisabet… why? You had all kinds of time to find another way… why did you still go through with it? I know it was childish of me to think that somehow if you knew about the seal you could find a way to solve the problem and… somehow find a way that we could actually meet face to face, but… dammit, there had to be some other way than for you to walk to your own death!”  


Elisabet stared blankly ahead as the tears flowed uninhibited down her cheeks inside the helmet. There was no way to actually wipe them away in her current situation, but she didn’t care anymore, either. There was no one left around to judge her.  


“Why, why, why did you do it…? How can you be so selfless, even in the face of your own death? I wish… I just wish we had more time so I could actually talk to you… learn more… but… that’s the way it has to be, I guess…  


“I will remember everything we’ve shared so far and… I’ll make sure that I’m worth your legacy. I owe you that. I think I owe you more, actually, but… that much I can promise, for now.  


“Goodbye, Elisabet… and I hope you find final peace.”  


With that, the recording came to an end, but Elisabet made no move to close the interface. Instead, she simply stared out the main window of the VTOL, at the dusty expanse of scorched earth that stretched for miles ahead of her, the view now opening up some once the vehicle had gained altitude. She swore she could see motion off to the right, something large and mechanical, but the VTOL banked to the left and began to power ahead away from it.  


She shifted her seat in the cockpit slightly before accessing the interface control built into her suit, navigating through her Focus menus until she arrived at one labelled “Personal Files.” Within, she found scores of video, audio, picture, and text files saved from over the years. Many of them were from her mother, but as she began to flip through the photos saved to her device she found herself smiling sadly at images of herself and her friends from school, the one or two friends she truly had at FAS, and finally one of her and Samina at an event shortly before her meeting with Ted where had told her he had doomed the planet.  


The two of them were dressed nicer than they had been in months, Samina in a flowing dress covered in intricate patterns and bright colors, her bright blue headscarf swapped out for a warm yellow one. Elisabet wore her usual grey suit, the undershirt coming slightly untucked in the front as she stood with an arm behind Samina, a half-empty drink in her free hand. The two of them looked so happy… happier than they had been in months.  


With a deep breath, Elisabet finally navigated away from the image, instead bringing up the video files. She scrolled through them for a moment or two before finally settling on one dated the summer after she had graduated from Carnegie-Mellon.  


“You forget how to swing an axe while living in the city?”  


She smiled at the sound of her mother’s voice, leaning back in her seat as she watched the recording taken from her own perspective, her mother’s smiling face coming into view a moment later.  


“You got so used to being in your head that you forgot how to do, girl.”  


“ _Not this time, Mom. Not this time._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter. All I have to say: it probably won't end the way you think.
> 
> See you next week.


	40. The End is Never the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are. 40 weeks, almost an entire year, later. Technically speaking I started writing this story back in October of 2017, and just didn't start posting it until March 2018.
> 
> I'm going to take the moment to be a little sappy.
> 
> I honestly never expected as many people to have read, commented, and liked this story as I've seen. I started writing this purely on a whim, and posted it once a friend did enough convincing. I always thought this was just going to be another one of those projects sent off into the ether of the internet with a few views here and there and that was it.
> 
> So for proving me wrong in that regard, thank you.
> 
> And in many other ways, thank you, still. If you've read this from week one, or if you've found it somewhere along the way, thanks for following along.
> 
> There's only two important things left to say:
> 
> 1) If you want the full experience of this chapter, as I had in my head and while I was actually writing it, listen to [Return to Earth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAfAxmhWmcQ) by The Contortionist. I always thought of this song as being the "end theme" of this story.
> 
> 2) **READ ALL THE WAY TO THE END, INCLUDING THE FINAL NOTE.** I know a lot of people seem to skip over it, because it's tagged onto the end, but seriously, this time: **READ IT**. You may be very happy that you did. (Hint: the chapter title is a very big clue)
> 
> Enough rambling here. We've still got a story to wrap up.

The flight to the marker on the map indicating Sobeck Ranch took roughly an hour or so, but when the autopilot computer issued a final descent warning, the final video file in her list had just finished playing. Elisabet closed the interface and sat up straight in her seat, squinting to try to see past the haze that seemed to exist outside the window of the vehicle. Nothing was visible until the readouts showed that she had descended below five hundred feet, at which point her view of the ground opened up.  


The earth was nearly barren, any signs of natural life scorched and brown, long since dead and burned away. Thick, brown clouds hung low overhead, obscuring the sunlight from above and casting the world in a strange, sepia hue. Finally, the VTOL began to slow, confusion creasing her features as she was unable to recognize the area it seemed to be trying to land in, but as it rotated around one hundred and eighty degrees, her eyes finally fell on a familiar sight. A single, large farmhouse sat in the distance, the trees surrounding it nothing but scraggly branches that betrayed no signs they had once supported life.  


“Here we are…”  


As soon as the vehicle had landed, she powered it down, the engines slowing to a stop with a soft whine. She remained in her seat for several long seconds, breathing slowly in through her nose before letting each breath out through her mouth.  


“You made it…”  


With a heavy sigh, Elisabet rose from her seat, casting one last glance around the cabin of the VTOL before heading back through the passenger and cargo compartments. The rear hatch opened to the sound of heavy clanking and pneumatics, the end of the ramp finally touching down on the ground to a cloud of dust. Her hand slid off the control panel slowly as she welled up the courage to actually step out of the vehicle.  


“You came all this way.”  


With one last deep breath, she strode down the ramp, stepping firmly onto the dry, dusty ground beyond it with one last, emphatic step. The ramp remained down as she made her way past the vehicle, walking leisurely toward the house in the distance. Her eyes scanned the landscape before her continuously, suddenly finding herself unable to remember how it had looked before. The barn behind the house looked like it was about ready to fall in, while her eyes caught several broken windows on the house, itself.  


“ _Looters? Out here?_ ”  


The structure loomed over her as she reached the front steps, each step of her heavy boots sounding with a resounding thud on the aged wood. The front door was still closed, so she tried the handle. To her surprise, it opened immediately. Beyond the door, it was dark, so she turned on the suit’s external light affixed to the helmet. The single flashlight beam illuminated the hallway ahead of her, the sight of it immediately bringing back a myriad of memories, most of them good, but a few sad.  


“ _That last time I was here…_ ”  


Her jaw clenched tightly as hot tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes, once again. She pressed on, farther into the house, ignoring the tight feeling forming in her chest. As she meandered through the various rooms, many of them barely seeming disturbed, she reasoned that the broken windows must have been due to the elements, and not other people.  


“ _I guess I can’t have expected the caretaker to have stayed once everything started to go to shit._ ”  


As she came to a stop in the kitchen, her hand resting on the back of one of the heavy wooden chairs at the small table in the middle of it, she suddenly found herself overwhelmed with every emotion that she could think of. Her knees felt weak as she gripped the back of the chair with her other hand to hold herself up, sounds somewhere between laughing, sobbing, and crying escaping her as she forced herself to keep her eyes open, looking around the familiar space. For a moment, she almost swore she could smell her mother’s meatloaf cooking, or one of her famous chocolate cakes.  


Finally, she turned and headed out of the room, moving up the stairs to the second floor. Her old bedroom had been turned into a generic guest room long ago, but her mother’s remained exactly as it had before she had passed away, at Elisabet’s demand. She stepped inside, glancing around the dusty, dark space. The bed looked as perfectly made as ever, the array of pillows covered in hand-stitched cases arranged neatly at the head while the familiar, old quilt lay folded at the foot.  


She moved over to the dresser directly across from the end of the bed, her hand reaching for the picture frame placed in the center. Any remaining barriers that remained in her finally collapsed as Elisabet let out a wailing cry, her vision blurring as her fingers gripped the picture tightly, although she did take care not to crack the glass. The image of the two of them, her mother and herself, when she had only been six years old stared back at her. She slowly raised her other hand, letting her fingers run over the image of her mother, wiping away the dusty coating.  


“I did it, Mom… I hope… like you said. I did everything could to serve life, to give it another chance… I just hope it will be enough.”  


She slowly set the picture frame back on the dresser only for something beside it to catch her eye. Her head tilted to the side slightly as she picked it off the wooden surface, holding it before her. It was a small globe, the blue and green paint to represent the continents and the oceans slightly chipped and faded, but she found she wouldn’t have it any other way. As she held it in the palm of her hand, she swore she could feel a gentle pressure on her shoulder, but when she glanced back, she was still alone.  


“Thanks Mom… for everything. See you soon.”  


With that, Elisabet made her way back downstairs and out the front door, once again. She lazily made her way to the stone bench in the front yard before falling onto it with a heavy sigh. The old house stood before her, dark and empty, as she stared up at the vague hints of where the sun should be through the thick clouds and smog.  


“Well, you made it, Lis,” she muttered to herself, running the globe amulet over in her fingers slowly. “After everything… back in little ‘ole Carson City.”  


With another heavy sigh, she looked down at the globe in her hand, staring at the small, gold chain attached to the top of it for a few moments before turning her attention to the interface on the arm of her suit.  


“Guess the world’s in your hands now, Aloy. Treat her well.”  


Elisabet hit a few buttons before the screen displayed a warning message in large, red letters.  


“WARNING: TURN OFF LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS?”  


With a small, sad smile, Elisabet tapped the “yes” option. Slowly, she felt the air in her suit becoming heavier, her breaths growing deeper, but her lungs burning more with each one. Darkness began to encroach into the edges of her vision as she turned to look up at the house, once again. As the darkness drew closer to the center of her view, and her head began to feel heavy, she swore she heard one final, familiar voice echoing through her head, and she suddenly felt one last fleeting sense of warmth spread through her chest.  


“ _Welcome home, kiddo._ ”

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In stark contrast to the darkness from a moment ago, Elisabet suddenly found herself confronted with a blinding white light and she recoiled slightly, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. After a few moments, she attempted to open them, once again, to find that the light had dimmed, allowing her to see her surroundings without becoming blinded. Confusion creased her features as she took in what appeared to be the open expanse of the ranch, but the house and barn were nowhere in sight.  


“What the hell…?”  


She slowly rose from her seat on the bench and glanced down only to find that she was no longer in her HEV suit, but instead her common sweater and grey pants that she had worn so many times while working at Zero Dawn. The realization that the scenery around her was also not clouded by dust storms or the brown haze that she had seen before came over her as she slowly began to turn in place.  


“Where am I?”  


Suddenly, her eyes caught sight of a shape in the distance and she came to a stop, focusing on it. At first, it was only a silhouette, but as the seconds ticked by, it began to gain a more tangible form and the veil around the figure began to clear away, revealing more clearly who it was. Elisabet’s eyes widened slightly as the image of Aloy striding across the open ground grew clearer, her head swiveling about as she also seemed to be taking in the strange environment, as well.  


Finally, the girl’s gaze fell on Elisabet, as well, and she came to a sudden halt.  


The two of them stared back at each other in silence for several long moments before they each began to move closer. As she drew ever closer, the image of Aloy seemed to only become clearer, the small details she had noticed during her time viewing the world through her eyes becoming more apparent. Along with the visuals, the sounds of the various pieces of metal from her outfit and the tools attached to her grew louder, further adding to the realism.  


Finally, when they were mere feet away from each other, they stopped. Each woman seemed to be sizing the other up, but neither dared to be the first to speak for several painfully long seconds.  


“Aloy.”  


Elisabet’s voice was calm, the girl’s name spoken more as a statement than a question.  


“Elisabet?”  


She nodded slowly in response to the girl’s question, which only prompted her to step closer, although she still appeared hesitant.  


“What… what is this?”  


“I don’t know,” she replied, shaking her head slowly.  


“Are you… is this… real?”  


Elisabet laughed softly, shrugging.  


“Still don’t know.”  


Aloy slowly held one hand out toward her, palm out. Elisabet could see the slight tremors in the girl’s fingers as a small smile pulled at her lips and she reached out, as well, placing her palm against hers. The feeling of warmth from her rough, calloused hands immediately sent an odd feeling shooting through Elisabet, but Aloy’s reaction was much more outward. She let out a gasping breath, as if she had been holding it, her chest heaving as she turned her attention from their hands to Elisabet's face.  


“It’s… it’s… this is real?”  


“Even if it isn’t, is it real enough?”  


Aloy swallowed nervously before nodding, her jaw clearly clenched shut tightly as Elisabet noted the watery appearance growing in her eyes.  


“Why did you do it, Elisabet?”  


“Because someone had to.”  


“It didn’t have to be you.”  


“Who else would it have been, then? My mother always said: if you want something done right, sometimes you gotta do it yourself.”  


They both laughed, although Aloy’s was through her tears, her eyes now deeply red, Elisabet slowly brought their hands down between them until she was holding the girl’s gently in her own grasp, squeezing her fingers ever so slightly.  


“It’s okay, really. I did everything I could do, and I’m fine with it. It’s your turn, now.”  


“I-I… how? I don’t… I’m no selfless hero like you.”  


“You think I’m a hero?”  


Aloy nodded slowly, wiping at her eyes with the back of her free hand.  


“Kiddo, I’m so far from a hero it’s not even funny.”  


Confusion creased the girl’s features as Elisabet laughed, shaking her hand playfully.  


“It’s an old expression.”  


“W-what… what does it mean?”  


“It means that ‘heroes’ don’t exist just on their own, and anyone who could be considered one isn’t the utter paragon of selflessness and good that everyone seems to hold them to. I was an asshole, I was selfish at times… I was just like everyone else, except somehow I happened to be the right person in the right place at the right time… or perhaps the wrong place and the wrong time.”  


Aloy slowly nodded, but didn’t seem entirely convinced.  


“Like I said in my last message to you: you have everything you need to succeed. HADES wants you dead because you’re a threat to it. You can stop it from destroying the beautiful world that I’ve seen.”  


“I don’t even know where to begin…”  


“You’ve got help. You saw the message from GAIA; she told you what to do. From what I’ve seen— _as_ —you, you’re not alone. I didn’t build all of GAIA to save the Earth by myself, Aloy… I had a team.”  


A small smile pulled at the girl’s lips as she squeezed Elisabet’s hand in return.  


“I guess I was hoping you could be on mine.”  


“I am, just maybe not physically. Use everything you’ve heard me talk about, everything you’ve seen, use it all to your advantage. Consider it my gift to you.”  


The smile remained on Aloy’s lips even as another tear began to roll down her cheek.  


“That and my devilish good looks.”  


They both laughed as Elisabet felt a warm feeling building in her chest.  


“Come here, kiddo.”  


She released Aloy’s hand and held her arms open, to which Aloy hesitantly stepped forward into them. Elisabet wrapped the girl in a tight embrace, feeling the bow and spear lashed to her back and all of the various pouches and tools affixed to her person pressing uncomfortably against her, but she refused to back away.  


A moment later, Aloy returned the embrace, squeezing her tightly in her strong grip. The girl buried her face in the crook of Elisabet’s neck, breathing deeply as the older woman slowly ran her hand over her hair.  


“Everything will work out. Trust me.”  


Just then, the light around them seemed to grow brighter and Elisabet closed her eyes against it, holding onto the feeling of the young huntress in her arms for as long as she could until finally everything seemed to slip away from her. After a few moments of what seemed to be a bright, nebulous void, she became aware of a warm sensation on her face and arms.  


The feeling grew stronger until a chill joined it, blowing faintly across her exposed skin. Shortly after those feelings, the sound of wind and gently running water began to grow louder in her ears. In the next few seconds, a strange sensation began to well up around her, growing ever more present until what could only describe as general “feeling” seemed to rush in, filling her body from top to bottom.  


The next thing that drew her attention was a certain stillness. It didn’t feel like she was in some purgatory-like void, but she was most definitely not moving. Hesitantly, she began to open her eyes, but quickly squinted against the bright light that greeted them, once again. After a few seconds had passed, they seemed to adjust and she blinked rapidly, bringing what lay before her into focus.  


She appeared to be staring out at an expanse of grass, a dirt path leading off into the wilderness to her right while a small stream ran through two large, rock formations to her left. The feeling of a cool breeze came once again and she felt it lift some of her hair, but with it another sensation dawned on her. The feeling was not that of her loose, short haircut, but of a mane of individual braids and strands of hair.  


Her eyes widened as she looked down at herself only to find the fur-and-leather skirt adorned with metal parts over a pair of leather leggings and moccasin-like boots.  


They were Aloy’s clothes.  


“ _What?! What’s happening?!_ ”  


Panic began to set in as she reached up to feel her hair, finding the huntress’s signature hairstyle flowing behind her, along with the tip of the spear lashed to her back.  


“ _If I’m here, then… oh no, no, no, no, this isn’t… this didn’t happen!_ ”  


She began to breathe heavily as images of two women in an expanse of wilderness, embracing tightly, came back to her.  


“ _If… if that happened… then…_ ”  


She had just been there, but… why had it seemed familiar?  


“ _Wait, what?_ ”  


The location had felt familiar in the moment, but… also like a dream. Where had she seen something like it before?  


“ _Home? No, home didn’t look like that, it was… on a mountain? That feels… is that right?_ ”  


Memories of metal and narrow corridors flooded her mind, but… they were ruins, right? Why were the lights so bright, though? She had been there… sometime.  


Have I?  


She shook her head, pressing her hands against her temples.  


No, I can’t have been that would be… the past?  


The girl in the field… she had been familiar, too. Had we met?  


No, she had met the girl for the first time. But I’ve seen her before…  


Lights, computers, machines, voices, dust storms, coffee, a blue headscarf, houses made of wood, red lights, deadly machines, AIs, a man named Sylens, an old farmhouse, a shining city on a mesa… all of them whirling and colliding.  


Was any of it real?  


All of it was real.  


It had to be.  


But why?  


I can’t remember why.  


The woman in the field… her name… was it mine?  


No, the girl…  


But there’s no difference.  


The woman, the girl, the same.  


What were their names?  


One was older… something… ancient?  


She only had one.  


No, that was the girl.  


I had one?  


I think.  


No, I have two.  


Aloy Sobeck.  


That seemed right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you think I would just leave you hanging like that? Keep an eye on the main page for the H:ZD fandom here. When one door closes, another opens. See you next week.


	41. Epilogue/Author's Note

Hey everyone!

I'm not sure exactly how AO3's policy's on this sort of thing works, but I wanted to throw in a little note here, at least for a little while, as a heads-up to anyone who was following this story and wants to see more of the continuing series.

I've added this to an actual "series" on here so you will be able to follow that to keep track, however for now you can also find the sequel as its own story on the main fandom page on here.

It's called [Binary](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17032299/chapters/40046115)

The meaning of the name will become clear as you read it.

Anyhoo, I also wanted to take this moment to kind of leave another thank you, in addition to what I posted in the "real" last chapter and the first chapter of the sequel. I never expected this to gain as much attention as it did, and I do hope that all of you who enjoyed this will continue to follow along with and enjoy the sequels. Yes, you read that tense right. See the note at the beginning of Binary for more information.

So yeah, I guess this is mainly just a heads-up for everyone who has bookmarked this story so they can know to follow the series link for the new one, or the hyperlink above.

See y'all over there.


End file.
